QUEBEC CITY – This week, a committee of the National Assembly is mulling over changing its cigarette packaging rules, with a eye to Australia’s plain packaging regulations, the Globe and Mail reports. The Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control is hosting a hearing that includes Nicola Roxon, the former attorney general for Australia, as well as the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Association of Convenience Stores.

The Globe and Mail spoke with Roxon about the issue. “Canada has actually been leading in this area and we’re keen to see that continue. In countries like ours where advertising and sponsorship are banned, the tobacco industry has been using their packs to get around those laws, increasingly making them more colorful, different shapes…. The packs basically became mobile billboards and every smoker, when taking them out of their pocket or out of their purse, is really advertising to all their friends and colleagues,” said Roxon.

The committee hasn’t released a timeline for when any changes to the Quebec Tobacco Act might be finalized.

In Toronto, the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) has thrown its full supports behind the Ontario Safety League petition calling for the end of sales of drug paraphernalia at stores in Ontario. “The [OCSA] members … are responsible community retailers and we do not condone selling drug paraphernalia,” said Dave Bryans, CEO of the association, in a press release. “I've signed the Ontario Safety League's petition myself and suggest shoppers vote with their wallets, and avoid retailers who engage in selling these products and support stores that adhere to the highest standards we expect of our members.”

While the association said it cannot speak for all convenience stores in Ontario, “our members are among the most highly trained and experienced retailers in Ontario. Our stores sell more age-restricted products than any other retailer and do a better job of stopping sales to minors than any other organization,” he said. “If the Ontario government were to choose to legislate against the sales of drug paraphernalia, we would be fully in support.”