CANADA
Two leading Canadian anti-tobacco groups that campaigned against smoking and tobacco products in Canada and around the world are preparing to close their doors after the money they expected to see in the most recent federal budget failed to materialize.
The Non-Smokers’ Rights Association (NSRA) and Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada (PSC) have been struggling along on a combination of savings, provincial help, and the work of volunteers since their federal funding was cut by the former Conservative government in 2012.
The current Liberal government’s promise to renew the federal Tobacco Control Strategy, which expired on March 31, was initially expected to include support for the two organizations. Instead, the government says the CAD11 million that was committed to the strategy this year and the CAD16 million promised next year will be used to stop the influx of contraband tobacco and to pay for unspecified “targeted actions” to help Canadians quit smoking. Without any new money from the government, the NSRA and PSC have reached the end of the line.
NSRA, which led the drive to put picture-based warnings on cigarettes, is now down to a single staff member in Montreal, has closed its Ottawa office, and is in the process of closing the main office in Toronto.
PSC is now run by volunteers and operates out of one of the volunteer’s basements. Neil Collishaw, the group’s research director, said it will “struggle along” but, without paid staff or funding, there is a limited number of things it can do.