Will Canada follow the U.S. initiative of support for smokers? Health program will pay for up to four counseling sessions. Medicare said Thursday it intends to pay for counseling to help some of the nation’s 4 million older smokers kick the habit. READ MORE...

Ontario tobacco taxes rise by $1.25 a carton at midnight Canadian Press, Tuesday, Jan 18, 2005. Toronto — Smokers in Ontario will have to pay $1.25 more per carton as of midnight Tuesday as the provincial Liberal government raises tobacco taxes for the third time since coming to office. READ MORE...

Ontario unveils smoking ban: Far-reaching legislation would affect all workplaces and enclosed public areas By JILL MAHONEY - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - Bar owner Heli Donaldson stood in the back, listening skeptically as Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman unveiled a landmark bill to ban smoking in all workplaces and enclosed public areas. READ MORE...

Province to intensify tobacco crackdown By MURRAY CAMPBELL, The Globe And Mail. Friday, November 26, 2004 - Page A1 The Ontario government will begin today to roll out the most sweeping anti-smoking strategy ever seen in Canada, banning cigarettes from display at store counters, raising taxes and requiring all public and work places to be smoke-free within two years. READ MORE...

Five Million Smokers Died Worldwide in 2000 - Study Tue Nov 23, 2004. 7:03 PM ET - LONDON (Reuters) - Smoking killed nearly 5 million people worldwide in 2000, with men more than three times as likely as women to go to an early grave, according to a study published on Wednesday in the journal Tobacco Control. READ MORE...