Canada Parties Support Ban on Tobacco Ads

Legislation that would ban tobacco advertising in Canada and require tougher warnings on cigarette packages received all-party support on Monday as the bill cleared another legislative hurdle.

Health Minister Jake Epp said the sweeping anti-smoking restrictions were needed to discourge the habit that claims an estimated 35,000 lives a year in Canada.

“If tobacco were discovered tomorrow, no government would permit its sale, much less its advertising,” Epp told the House of Commons after opposition party spokesmen pledged to cooperate in passage of the bill.

The proposed measures, first unveiled last April, would put an end to smoking in federally-regulated workplaces and ban all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion in phases, beginning Jan. 1, 1988.