Canada's top court upholds federal rules on tobacco ads

[mudesi]

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/28/business/NA-FIN-Canada-Tobacco-Advertising.php

The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled Thursday that restrictions on tobacco advertising in federal legislation are constitutionally valid, dealing a blow to the major cigarette companies who had argued the limits violated their freedom of speech.

"I conclude that the impugned provisions of the Tobacco Act and the tobacco products information regulations, properly interpreted, are constitutional in their entirety," Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin wrote in the judgment.

The ruling is the culmination of a 10-year legal battle between the federal government and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. , Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Inc., and JTI-Macdonald Corp., the three major tobacco companies in Canada.

The firms had argued that some provisions of the 1997 Tobacco Act limited their right to freedom of expression and that these limits were not justified under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I wonder how the neo-con wing of the United States Supreme Court would have ruled in this particular case...

[BlackHawk706867]

1. As a "Human being", I'm not sure I agree with the ruling... Most people...

know that Tobacco is bad for you... I think it is the right of the companies to advertise there product... And it is up to each and every person to decide whether or not they decide to use Tobacco. It's like guns being the problem, when in fact it is the people and not the guns at all... But hey, they ruled unanimously so what can be said....

ww