CSFA News Releases

Thursday, June 24, 2010 - ALBERTA GOVERNMENT RECEIVES TOBACCO REDUCTION AWARD. Today a coalition of prominent health organizations presented the Alberta government with a Tobacco Reduction Achievement Award for its role in contributing to three consecutive years of reduced tobacco consumption. Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky accepted the award on behalf of the Alberta government.

New data released by Alberta Finance has revealed that Albertans have smoked one billion fewer cigarettes since 2007. The consistent three-year reduction points to a strong cause-and-effect relationship between effective tobacco control policies and consumption. more

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 - HEALTH GROUPS CALL FOR PARKS SMOKING BAN. Alberta health groups are greeting the May 1st opening of provincial parks with a call for a smoking ban in parks, starting with those that currently have a fire ban in place. A growing number of Canadian jurisdictions have banned smoking in parks including metro Vancouver which will implement its outdoor smoking ban on September 1. more

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - CONVICTED SMUGGLERS TO SPEAK ABOUT CONTRABAND TOBACCO. Canada's largest tobacco company -- Imperial Tobacco -- is scheduled to speak today about tobacco smuggling at the CARWACS convenience store trade show in Calgary. In 2008, Imperial Tobacco was convicted of participating in tobacco contraband schemes in the 1990s and received a $200 million fine for its role -- the largest fine ever levied in Canadian history. more. related article.

January 20, 2010 - Weedless Wednesday - HEALTH GROUPS URGE NEW HEALTH MINISTER TO SUE TOBACCO COMPANIES. The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is urging health minister Gene Zwozdesky to seek government approval to sue tobacco companies for billions of dollars in healthcare costs resulting from the industry's negligence and its deceptive marketing practices. more

November 18, 2009 - HEALTH GROUPS APPLAUD PASSAGE OF BILL TO SUE TOBACCO COMPANIES. A coalition of prominent health organizations is applauding the Alberta government for passing a bill that will hold tobacco companies accountable for their tremendous impact on the healthcare system.

Bill 48, the Crown's Right of Recovery Act allows the Alberta government to sue tobacco companies to recover the portion of healthcare costs resulting from the tobacco industry's deceptive marketing practices. more

October 30, 2009 - The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta (CSFA) has had some membership changes over the past year, primarily resulting from the formation of Alberta Health Services and its assimilation of numerous health boards and regional health authorities.

Despite these changes, CSFA and its members remain committed to supporting the development of public policies to reduce and prevent tobacco use in Alberta. We will continue to lead the charge for effective, evidence-based tobacco control policies in Alberta. We are also in the process of building our membership to further strengthen our coalition. more

July 27, 2009 - TOBACCO TAXES AND POLICIES CONTRIBUTE TO CONSECUTIVE ANNUAL REDUCTIONS IN TOBACCO USE. Tobacco sales in Alberta have declined for a second consecutive year as the result of lower consumption, according to new sales data provided by Alberta Finance. The continued reduction in consumption points to a strong cause-and-effect relationship between tobacco taxes, effective tobacco control policies and consumption. more

May 25, 2009 - HEALTH GROUPS CALL FOR A BAN ON ALL TOBACCO PRODUCT FLAVOURINGS. The Campaign for a Smoke-free Alberta is urging the federal and provincial governments to ban the use of all flavour additives in tobacco products.

The call coincides with the release of new data by Alberta Health Services showing that provincial sales of small flavoured cigars -- known as cigarillos -- have skyrocketed from 5.7 million units in 2001 to over 64 million in 2007. Youth and young adults under the age of 25 are the heaviest users of cigarillos. more

March 5, 2009 - ALBERTA SHOULD JOIN SUIT AGAINST TOBACCO INDUSTRY. Health groups are urging the Alberta government to join Ontario, B.C. and five other provinces in taking legal action to recover healthcare costs from the tobacco industry.

Yesterday, the Ontario government became the seventh province to introduce Medicare cost recovery legislation intended to make the tobacco industry pay compensation for a portion of the treatment costs resulting from its deceptive marketing practices. more

December 22, 2008 - TOBACCO SALES DECLINING AS PHARMACIES AND POST-SECONDARIES GO TOBACCO-FREE. Tobacco sales in Alberta are declining for the second consecutive year as the result of lower than anticipated consumption, according to the provincial government's quarterly fiscal update released last month. Health groups are attributing the projected decline to the new Tobacco Reduction Act, which came into effect on January 1, 2008. more

June 27, 2008 - PROVINCIAL LEGISLATION CREDITED FOR DROP IN TOBACCO CONSUMPTION. New data released by Alberta Finance reveals that tobacco shipments in the province are down for the first time in five years. The decline follows a 63 cent per 25-pack tobacco tax increase in April 2007 and the implementation of a province-wide smoking ban in January 2008. more

"The Tobacco Reduction Act appears to be having the desired effect in Alberta" said Donna Hastings of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT and Nunavut. "We believe that the provincial smoking ban combined with last spring's tobacco tax increase is having a significant impact on tobacco use. The complementary timing of these two initiatives may be having a synergistic effect on reducing tobacco consumption throughout the province." more


November 14, 2007 - ALBERTA PASSES ONE OF THE STRONGEST TOBACCO CONTROL LAWS IN CANADA. Today the Legislative Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of Bill 45-the Tobacco Reduction Act. The bill represents one of the strongest tobacco control laws in Canada. Only three other provinces-Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia-have passed similar legislation in recent years. more

November 7, 2007 - Tobacco Reduction Bill will improve employers' bottomline. A new report on the economic impact of Bill 45 -- the proposed Tobacco Reduction Act -- concludes that the bill will improve the bottom line of Alberta employers by reducing sick leave, absenteeism and disability resulting from tobacco use. more

October 17, 2007 - Albertans want Stelmach Government to endorce the proposed tobacco law. A convincing majority of Albertans (75%) want the Stelmach government to invest in the proper implementation and enforcement of Bill 45-the proposed Tobacco Reduction Act-according to a recent public opinion poll. more

June 12, 2007 - A broad coalition of health, business and labour organizations is applauding Bill 45, Alberta's proposed new tobacco reduction law that was introduced today in the Legislative Assembly by Health and Wellness Minister Dave Hancock. more

May 31, 2007 - The Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta is delighted with today's Caucus decision in support of Health and Wellness Minister Hon. Dave Hancock's proposed comprehensive tobacco legislation. Based on this immediate and unprecedented development, the coalition is urging the Stelmach government to hold a final vote on the bill in the spring session of the Alberta Legislature. more

May 7, 2007 - Health Groups Challenge Imperial Tobacco to "Walk the Talk" on Corporate Responsibility. Alberta health organizations are challenging Imperial Tobacco to support strong government measures to reduce youth tobacco use following today's release of the company's report on corporate social responsibility. Specifically, the organizations are urging Imperial Tobacco to support government measures that will (1) ban tobacco retail displays or "power walls"; (2) prohibit tobacco sales in pharmacies, healthcare settings and educational facilities; and (3) curb price discounting by manufacturers. more

February 5, 2007 - Smoke-Free Calgary (SFC) is more than pleased to announce that recent testing conducted in 21 of Calgary's bars and pubs has seen a dramatic air quality improvement. SFC is crediting Calgary's public smoking ban, introduced on January 1, 2007, for the city's improved indoor air quality in these bars and pubs. more

February 1, 2007 - ALBERTANS RESOUNDINGLY APPROVE PROPOSED TOBACCO LEGISLATION. Support among Rural Albertans is just as high as urban residents. more

November 20, 2006 - ALL EIGHT LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES RESPOND TO TOBACCO CONTROL SURVEY. All eight candidates vying to be the next Premier of Alberta have responded to a survey of various policy measures to reduce tobacco use in Alberta. more

November 6, 2006 - Alberta tobacco shipments have increased for the third consecutive year according to new data obtained from Alberta Finance. more

October 30, 2006
HEALTH GROUPS URGE LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO REDUCE TOBACCO USE. Today, the Campaign for a Smoke-Free Alberta launched a province-wide initiative to encourage the leadership candidates to support effective tobacco reduction measures. more

May 31 , 2006
RESULTS OF POLITICAL LEADERS AND CANDIDATES SURVEY ON MEASURES TO REDUCE TOBACCO USE IN ALBERTA. more

April 26, 2006 - HEALTH GROUPS CALL FOR WAR ON TEEN SMOKING more

March 1, 2006 - TOBACCO LAWS PIVOTAL TO MEETING NEW CANCER TARGETS more