Canada's Harper Pledges Tobacco Marketing Constraints

Source from:  By Theophilos Argitis and Alexandre Deslongchamps Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) 09/18/2008

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged new regulations to make it harder for cigarette makers to market their products to children. The governing Conservative Party, vying for re-election ahead of an Oct. 14 vote, would ban cigarette makers from adding flavors and other additives that appeal to young people, Harper said today. He'd also ban sales of small packs of cigarillos, and ads in publications aimed at a youth market. "As a parent, I was appalled to see tobacco being marketed in a way that is so enticing to children," Harper, 49, said at a campaign stop in Welland, Ontario. Making tobacco products and packaging them like candy or bubble gum " just isn't right," he said. Harper made consumer protection one of his government's top agenda items before calling elections earlier this month, seeking to pressure banks and phone companies to curb fees to consumers. His government also increased safety standards for some goods such as baby bottles. The prime minister, who has framed his campaign around the notion that he's the best steward to manage the slowing economy, also said today that the budget would remain in surplus if he is re-elected. Harper, 49, said pledges by opposition parties for new tax cuts and spending will bring Canada into a deficit for the first time in more than a decade. "It would be deficits and large deficits," Harper said of the opposition plans. Conservatives Lead A Segma-La Presse survey of 1,502 voters published today showed the Conservatives leading other parties with 42 percent support, ahead of the Liberal Party's 23 percent and the New Democratic Party's 16 percent. The poll, conducted Sept. 10-15, is accurate within 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20. Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has pledged more than C$15 billion ($14 billion) in tax cuts for corporations and individuals and higher spending on poor families, saying he would finance the measures with a levy on energy consumption. Dion said today he has no plans to run a deficit if elected. Like Harper, Dion was campaigning in vote-rich Ontario, the country's largest province where almost one-third of Canada's lawmakers are elected. He told reporters in London, Ontario, that he'd replace student tax credits with grants, offer 200,000 scholarships, give people more time to pay back student loans and expand research funding for universities. At a campaign stop in Kitchener, Ontario, later in the day, Dion pledged C$1.25 billion for new day care spaces. NDP Leader Jack Layton, speaking to reporters today in Toronto, promised 150,000 child care spaces, saying his plan would cost C$1.45 billion in the first year. Layton criticized Harper for not offering more such slots to parents. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Green Party released its campaign platform, calling for a carbon tax that would finance corporate tax cuts and new funding for poor families. Enditem