-

Press Release

February 18, 2011

Physicians group welcomes Ottawa's move to enlarge tobacco warnings and curb tobacco package marketing

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada today welcomed the 'Gazetting' of three sets of proposed regulations for tobacco products.

"As she promised, the Minister of Health, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, is delivering new regulations which will increase the size of health warning messages from 50% of the package front and back to 75%," said Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada.

"The new Canadian warnings will be among the largest in the world." The government is also moving forward with other regulations that had been delayed, including a regulatory ban on the use of the words 'light' and 'mild' and an end to the use of numbers on cigarette packages that misled smokers into thinking that some brands of cigarettes were less harmful.

"The law requires that tobacco regulations be presented to the House of Commons for consideration," explained Callard. "We will be looking to parliamentarians to support these regulations, and to encourage the government to move even further to protect public health from tobacco industry marketing."

-30-

For further  information:

Health Canada Consultation: