Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Implementation Report
The Canadian Cancer Society recommended that Bill 40 be amended to require the Minister to report on the implementation of the legislation every five years. Committee agrees there would be a benefit to the Minister periodically reporting on implementation of this legislation to ensure it is effective in controlling and reducing the use of tobacco and vaping products.
For this reason, committee proposed Motion 5, set out in Appendix A, to require the Minister to report on implementation of the Act three years after the section comes into force, and every five years thereafter.
Periodic Review
A provision in Alberta's Tobacco and Smoking Reduction Act requires the Minister to commence a review of the Act within five years after the section comes into force. The Canadian Cancer Society recommended Bill 40 be amended to require a legislative review at least every five years to ensure regular updates to the legislation and sustain the effectiveness of initiatives to reduce the harm caused by tobacco.
While the NWT's smoking and vaping rates are a cause of significant concern, committee believes that requiring periodic reviews of this legislation by the Minister or a committee of the Legislative Assembly would unnecessarily tie the hands of future Legislative Assemblies. Moreover, stakeholders advised committee that, with some changes, Bill 40 will put the NWT in a sound position to reduce and control the use of tobacco and vaping products.
Committee believes that periodic reporting on implementation of the Act would be significant to ensure the legislation is updated when necessary to safeguard residents, such as with the advent of new technology, pursuant to Motion 5, discussed above.
Bill 41: Tobacco and Vapour Products Control Act
Comparative Health Effects
The smoking rates in the NWT are alarming, with our smoking rate among those 15 years and older being the second-highest in the country. A reported 33-34 percent of the NWT's population 15 years and older smoked daily or occasionally as of 2014, whereas only 13 percent of the Canadian population 15 years and older smoked in 2015. While there has been a slight increase in the NWT's smoking rate since 2003, the national rate has decreased significantly over the same period, down from 23 per cent to 16 per cent.
Preliminary evidence of vaping activity in the Northwest Territories indicates that our highest number of e-cigarette consumers are between the ages of 15-24, at 33 percent. Committee heard that curiosity is the leading reason for people using e-cigarettes at 50 per cent, with 22 percent using e-cigarettes because they are viewed as less harmful than cigarettes, 21 percent using them to help quit smoking, 21 percent because they can vape where they are not permitted to smoke, and 20 percent because they like the flavour.
While the information presented to the committee on the NWT's smoking and vaping rates was consistently alarming, the information presented on the comparative health effects of smoking compared with vaping was mixed, if not conflicting. JUUL Labs told committee that vaping devices should be viewed as smoking cessation, or "harm reduction," tools. The company argued that the restrictions on the advertising and promotion of vaping products and accessories under Bill 41 should be loosened to combat the harms of tobacco smoke by helping smokers make the switch to vaping.
JUUL Labs' view of vapour products as a harm reduction and smoking cessation aid was in stark contrast to the views presented by several other witnesses. First, committee heard that the evidence supporting the use of nicotine-containing vaping devices for smoking cessation is reportedly unknown.
While research may show that e-cigarettes are useful in quit attempts, other research shows that smokers are unsatisfied with the new devices and return to smoking cigarettes, or they maintain dual use between the two products, which is of little benefit in reducing health risks.
Second, committee heard that the long-term health effects of exposure to the chemicals used for vaping are unknown, specifically the effect of the particulate emissions and carcinogens (notably 1,3-butadiene in nicotine) and the toxicity produced from heating the substances. As such, with limited research, the comparative toxicity between tobacco products like cigarettes and nicotine-containing vaping products is unknown.
Third, committee heard that the use of e-cigarettes is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and that dual use of conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes is associated with a compounded risk of heart attack.
Fourth, ASH told us there is emerging evidence that youth vaping may be leading to higher youth smoking rates in Canada. The Minister of Health and Social Services advised committee that a single pod used in a vaping device can expose the user to the same amount of highly addictive nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
In light of the high smoking rates in the NWT, committee considered at length the possible merit of treating vaping products with nicotine as a potentially less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes under Bill 41. On the balance, while committee found the evidence on the benefits of vaping as a harm reduction tool to be inconclusive, growing, and shifting rapidly, the evidence about the potential harms of vaping to public health is persuasive. We believe strict controls about both tobacco and vaping products, as found in Bill 41, are necessary to protect the residents of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I will now turn it over to the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Thank you.