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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 5, 20 19 | 10 Visit us today for some sound advice! Don't put up with hearing loss anymore... Georgetown's trusted choice for hearing care 360 Guelph St., Unit 44 Georgetown (In the Knolcrest Centre) 905.877.8828 FREE consultation 90 day RISK FREE trial Armstrong Ave Delrex Blvd amazing with haircuts and humoururoum hdna A stylist for everyone. FirstChoice.com Representatives from the National Coalition Against Contraband To- bacco (NCACT) say illegal cigarettes continue to be a problem in Halton and are calling for better laws to halt their manufacture and distribution. Gary Grant, spokes- person for the advocacy group, stopped by Oakville on Tuesday, Aug. 27 to talk to the media about the dan- gers of the contraband cig- arette trade. The 39-year veteran of the Toronto Police Service and founder of Toronto Crime Stoppers noted that while the sale of contra- band cigarettes is a prob- lem across the country, the epicentre of illegal tobacco is Ontario. In Halton, Grant said, 25-30 per cent of the ciga- rettes consumed are ille- gally manufactured con- traband cigarettes. "The Ontario govern- ment is losing about $750 million a year in provin- cial taxes due to the con- traband trade," said Grant. "Also, the people that are selling the contraband cigarettes don't care who they sell it to. They don't worry about the age re- strictions. They will sell a 12-year-old kid a baggy of cigarettes for the price of a movie ticket." Grant said another problem with illegally pro- duced cigarettes is that or- ganized crime uses them as a way of funding more serious criminal activities such as drug trafficking and illegal firearms deal- ing. He noted that according to the RCMP there are 175 criminal gangs involved in the contraband cigarette trade. "People think this is vic- timless crime, but it is a big crime and it is going on right here in our own com- munity," said Grant. "We are urging the Pro- vincial government to do something about it." NCACT has been meet- ing with the Province over the last year and has rec- ommended Ontario pass legislation similar to that seen in Quebec. Grant said Quebec pre- viously had a problem with contraband tobacco, but then passed laws au- thorizing all police officers in Quebec to enforce the to- bacco excise laws. He said Quebec also cre- ated a task force of 54 offi- cers dedicated to tackling the contraband tobacco fight and provided consis- tent funding to deal with the issue. These changes, Grant said, resulted in contra- band cigarette sales in Quebec dropping by 50 per cent. NCACT had expected to see Ontario legislation dealing with contraband cigarettes in the spring budget and say they were disappointed when this did not emerge. "We're urging the Pro- gressive Conservative Government not to drop the ball on this," said Grant. "We want them to get moving on the file and do what they said they would do in the fall." NCACT is made up of 14 members including Toron- to Crime Stoppers, the Ca- nadian Chamber of Com- merce, the Ontario Cham- ber of Commerce, the Ca- nadian Tobacco Manufacturer's Council and the Canadian Taxpay- ers Federation. For more information visit https://www.stop- contrabandtobacco.ca. NEWS GROUP URGES PROVINCE TO ACT ON CONTRABAND TOBACCO DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com National Coalition Against Contraband Tobacco calling for action on illegal cigarette trade in Ontario. Randy Risling / Toronto Star