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Visit schools, meet with the principals
In the eyes of tobacco smugglers, schools are not sacred places of learning, but lucrative markets and convenient points of sale to circulate their products, regardless of the fact that their clients are minors.
By offering young people packs of cigarettes as cheap as chewing gum, without any regard for scruples or morals, smugglers have increasingly penetrated school corridors. According to data on cigarette butts collected by the CCSA in Ontario and Quebec high schools in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the percentage of contraband tobacco soars from 30% to an unprecedented rate of 89% in some establishments close to Native reservations. We are anticipating similar growth rates for contraband tobacco in Atlantic Canada if nothing is done to prevent this.
By visiting schools, meeting principals and raising awareness among teachers about this problem, MPs can help mobilize educational resources to deal with this problem more effectively and make sure young people are better informed in order to keep organized crime out of the hallways of their schools.
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