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Fighting a Tobacco-Tax Rollback: A Political Analysis of the 1994 Cigarette Contraband Crisis in Canada

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Abstract

We identify factors that led a regional government (Quebec, Canada) to opt for a reduction of its tobacco tax to combat tobacco smuggling. Then we explore the fallout of Quebec's tobacco-tax rollback on its tobacco control policy. We conducted qualitative research using a case-study design and multiple sources of data. We applied the Advocacy Coalition Framework in respect of data collection and analysis. Advocates of the tobacco-tax rollback framed the contraband problem in a way that won the support of an array of actors. However, anti-tobacco activists succeeded in convincing the government to invest more in tobacco control. The new resources were instrumental in enhancing the activists' ability to promote legislative measures. Our approach sheds light on the tobacco industry's strategy to have governments reducing their tobacco tax. Quebec offers an example of how tobacco control activists can transform defeat into the cornerstone of a comprehensive tobacco control policy.

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Acknowledgements

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the Canadian Tobacco Research Initiative (SSHRC Grant # 834-2002-0003), funded this research project. During this study, Eric Breton was the recipient of a doctoral research award from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (NST-42826). Lucie Richard is a FRSQ Scholar (#23187-2192). We thank the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé (GRIS), Université de Montréal, and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec for their financial support. Moreover, we are very grateful to all of the individuals who kindly agreed to share with us their views on and experience of the contraband crisis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Health & Social Development, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, 3125, Victoria, Australia

    Eric Breton

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  1. Eric Breton
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  2. Lucie Richard
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  3. France Gagnon
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  4. Marie Jacques
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  5. Pierre Bergeron
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Correspondence to Eric Breton.

Additional information

From the point of view of those intent on reducing tobacco use, principally from the health sector, the 1994 decision to rollback Quebec's tobacco tax was a serious setback. The authors explore how it happened and why.

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Breton, E., Richard, L., Gagnon, F. et al. Fighting a Tobacco-Tax Rollback: A Political Analysis of the 1994 Cigarette Contraband Crisis in Canada. J Public Health Pol 27, 77–99 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jphp.3200060

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