This column was published in in the Toronto Sun.
Kathleen Wynne knows that contraband cigarettes are a problem in Ontario--costing her government millions each year in lost revenues. But her tough talk doesn't match her actions.
Let's start with the tough talk. This past January she announced a whole new department within the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) just to deal with contraband smokes. Will it work? Maybe, maybe not. By itself, this probably won't make the problem worse.
But what of her actions? A month after announcing the new OPP task force on contraband, the Wynne government hiked tobacco taxes by $3 a carton, making illegal cigarettes that much more attractive.
