Fat Taxery in Ontario
6:03pm
Thursday, 15th April 2004
The government of Ontario has added two lines to its forthcoming budget that the health minister hopes will help dissuade smokers and junk food junkies. The government will rachet up the cigarrette tax, pull high sugar and fatty foods out of school cafeterias and revoke the sales tax exemption currently enjoyed by fast food vendors who sell meals costing less than $4 ('1.80) Estimates suggest that the government stands to raise as much as $200 million from the tax.
Childhood obesity is a particular concern for the government. According to health minister George Smitherman, it's estimated that 37 per cent of Canadian kids are overweight, and that the proportion of obese kids has tripled since 1981.
According to Smitherman, "There is new evidence that one in four obese children has early signs of acquired Type 2 diabetes, the kind once almost never seen in children. The cost to the Ontario health-care system of diabetes alone is estimated to be $1-billion and growing fast." Smitherman promises this as only the government's first step in "a revolution in which we take back control of our own health."
The Politics of Public Behaviour? You bet.
The government of Ontario has added two lines to its forthcoming budget that the health minister hopes will help dissuade smokers and junk food junkies. The government will rachet up the cigarrette tax, pull high sugar and fatty foods out of school cafeterias and revoke the sales tax exemption currently enjoyed by fast food vendors who sell meals costing less than $4 ('1.80) Estimates suggest that the government stands to raise as much as $200 million from the tax.
Childhood obesity is a particular concern for the government. According to health minister George Smitherman, it's estimated that 37 per cent of Canadian kids are overweight, and that the proportion of obese kids has tripled since 1981.
According to Smitherman, "There is new evidence that one in four obese children has early signs of acquired Type 2 diabetes, the kind once almost never seen in children. The cost to the Ontario health-care system of diabetes alone is estimated to be $1-billion and growing fast." Smitherman promises this as only the government's first step in "a revolution in which we take back control of our own health."
The Politics of Public Behaviour? You bet.
LOGIN to add comments
Comments