Unity working on tobacco protest

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You've got to hand it to the 50 or so First Nations retailers in British Columbia who, within six short weeks, came together to combat the province's odious Tobacco Marking Program. The retailers met in Kamloops June 18 and 19 to mull over a discussion paper on the issue and left with an emphatic mandate to pursue the eradication of the program.

Complex problems require complex solutions and the government's intention to mark taxable cigarettes with a green tear strip while leaving those cigarettes sold tax-exempt with a clear tear strip flies in the face of this thinking. This new system was considered an easy solution to the perceived program of exemption abuse, but the association was quick off the mark to point out the province was only adding to the confusion by creating an impractical and clearly racist retailing situation.

Imagine the lineups at First Nations stores, one for whites only and the other for Indians to purchase "Indian Only" products.

"The Tobacco Marking Program was challenged because it is a racially segregationist policy that is totally unacceptable in an enlightened Canada. It was argued that the negative consequences of this policy on racial relations would far outweigh any tax savings the program may have captured," reads the discussion paper.

Furthermore, the policy would require First Nations retailers to carry two inventories, one for their status Indian customers and one for their non-Indian customers, further complicating an already complicated system of delivering tax-exempt tobacco, it continues.

The retailers insist the problem is not that Indian people are abusing their right of exemption, but the systems by which the government delivers tax-exempt tobacco isn't completely in synch with the marketplace it serves.

The problem goes beyond this new policy, they say. It begins with another government program in which quotas are established on tax-exempt tobacco sales. These quotas do not take into account the nomadic nature of Native people. These kinds of policies severely impact the economies of First Nations. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost each year because retailers run out of stock due to the quota system.

It's difficult to convince a government that perceives it's losing millions of tax dollars to an extensive underground black market that it just isn't so. But even if one does concede that a black market on tobacco exists, is it fair to paint all Natives as abusers? Is it fair to penalize all First Nations retailers for what is primarily an enforcement problem?

Native people have already taken their fair share of the responsibility for the few who would abuse the system. Apart from the quota system which prohibits any consumer from purchasing or possessing more than five cartons of cigarettes at any one time, or 15 cartons in one month, tax-exempt status Indians are subjected to providing proof of status when a purchase is made and every transaction is recorded. The retailers have called the practice intrusive and insulting.

The retailers are calling for an extension to the moratorium on the marking policy granted April 29 by Finance Minister Elizabeth Cull. A position paper is being drafted by the retailers on the policy and the presentation of the position paper is expected within the coming months.

What is clear now, however, is that laws and legislation that have considerable impact on the Native population must only be considered after input from the people it will most affect. The B.C. government would do well to remember this before they approve another policy that chops away at the rights enjoyed by First Nations people.