Mohawks protest cigarette quota

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The latest controversy over the control of tax-free cigarettes is heating up between the Ontario government and a band in the southwest corner of the province.

The provincial government did not adequately consult with the Six Nations of the Grand River before putting its latest policy proposal before the provincial cabinet, the band's chief said. The government wants to impose a quota system for sales of tax-free cigarettes and gasoline.

"We spent a lot of money fighting the quota system," said Steve Williams.

"Then the provinces comes in with this cabinet document saying we've agreed with the quota system.

"We've never agreed with the quota system."

News of the province's plans to consider the quota system broke two weeks ago when a copy of the policy paper was leaked to the Brantford Examiner.

But Ontario does not have the power to impose a quota system because the province has no jurisdiction within Six Nations territory, Chief Williams said.

And Native reserves are not the only communities that have a problem with the reduced sales of illegally obtained cigarettes, Williams said.

Toronto's Chinatown and communities across Quebec and British Columbia have the same problem.

"The thing is, they're saying it's just the Aboriginal people who are doing it, and that's not true," Williams said.

A spokesman for the provincial Aboriginal Affairs department said Natives should not worry about quotas being put in overnight.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bud Wildman has tried to make clear the document was a proposal put through the bureaucracy and not a policy yet, said ministry spokesman Shawn Murray.

"The idea was to approach Six Nations with a pilot project and develop something. But it was not a done deal."

The issue has also been a cause of concern for the Ministry of Finance, said Murray, but the government is the first to acknowledge that tax-free sales of cigarettes is not a First Nations problem.

The Ontario government has discussed the possibility of regulating cigarette and gasoline sales to Natives more tightly, said provincial finance department spokesman Jay Young.

The new measures are aimed at making sure that only Aboriginal communities have access to legitimate tax-free tobacco and gasoline.

Gasoline retailers currently pay all taxes when they purchase gas from a distributor and then seek tax refunds for every purchase made an Aboriginal with a status card.

Tobacco is bought tax-free retailers from certain wholesalers. The retailer is then on their honor to charge tax to people without status cards.