Thank you, Mr. Chairman. While I appreciate that there are some people who might have concerns with raising the age and including liquor, you know, I can say that we have come a long way as a society as it relates to limiting younger or youth access to these products and, in particular, tobacco. I am not as familiar, clearly, with vaping products, but I remember, even as a very young person, that when I started experimenting with cigarettes, you could walk into the front door of any hotel and there would be a cigarette vending machine, and, so long as you had the money to put into it, you could get a pack of cigarettes out of it. You know, that day and age has past us. We have made significant improvements as a society to keep access to tobacco out of the hands of our younger generation. I do not need to go over any statistical information. It is proven that, the longer we can keep tobacco products out of the hands of our youth, there is a better chance that they are not even going to begin smoking in the first place.
Since losing my mom in 2003 at the same time that I quit smoking, I have spent the last nearly 16 years working diligently with various cancer charities in trying to raise awareness and help those who are battling cancer due to smoking, various forms of lung cancer. Again, I can see that the efforts that are made by governments such as ours are the ones that are starting to make a difference in improving people's lives and keeping them off of tobacco and the negative health effects that it has to begin with, so I see no problem with this motion, and I will be in support. Thank you, Mr. Chair.