PRESS RELEASE – November 14, 2022

Doctors seek Federal Court Order to Force Health Canada to Comply with Tobacco Law

Mandatory Report More Than Five Months Overdue

(Ottawa – November 14, 2022) Today a national health charity applied for a Federal Court order directing Health Canada to complete its overdue review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act and to present the results to Parliament.

“The law is crystal clear” said Dr. Atul Kapur, president of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (PSC). “Section 60 of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act says the Minister ‘must’ conduct a review of the provisions and operations of the law every two years, beginning in May 2021 and ‘must’ present each of these reports to Parliament within 12 months.”

“It is now more than five months past the deadline set by the law for the first report to be made public. It is increasingly apparent that without direction from the Court, the government will continue to disregard its responsibility to disclose the results of its policy choices on the tobacco and nicotine market.”