Latest news with #sugarTax
CTV News
17-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Canada's first ‘sugar tax' shows some signs of effectiveness, but repeal is already set
Sales of bottled water increased, and more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians switched to diet or sugar-free sodas than residents of other provinces. A comprehensive analysis of Canada's first sugar tax shows signs of effectiveness, but the study comes too late to catch the eyes of decision makers who've already ruled on the tax's abolition. Newfoundland and Labrador's sugar-sweetened beverages tax reduced the weighted likelihood of consumption of targeted beverages by about 25 per cent, according to an analysis sponsored by the Heart and Stroke foundation. But the tax is set to be fully repealed on July 1. Its abolition was one of the first acts of Premier John Hogan, who took office in May. He said it was contributing to affordability issues in the province. 'We're disappointed because we didn't see any evidence that there was meaningful evaluation done at the government level,' said study co-author Scott Harding, an associate professor of nutritional biochemistry at Memorial University in St. John's. 'We would have liked them to maybe hold off, until they at least saw our data.' The study's analysis of sales data in Atlantic Canada showed per-capita sales of targeted products decreased about 11.6 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador, compared to 6.7 per cent in other Atlantic provinces. Sales of bottled water increased, and more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians switched to diet or sugar-free sodas than residents of other provinces. 'These are the types of swings in behaviour in the population that we were hoping to see,' Harding said. 'But to do it over just two years, it's too short of a time period. And you need to change that.' Harding said his ideal tax would be bigger and broader, with fewer carve outs for things like chocolate milk and smoothies, which were excluded in Newfoundland and Labrador's tax. The tax was introduced in September 2022. It added a 20 cent per litre surcharge on certain sugary drinks, like sodas, in an effort to urge people to switch to alternatives. Newfoundland and Labrador's Department of Finance, which administered the tax in the province, didn't respond to questions or an interview request from CTV News on Tuesday. The tax was deeply unpopular in the province and quickly became the topic of political attack by opposition parties in the House of Assembly. 'People don't like being told what to do, especially when it comes to something that they've been eating or drinking all their life,' said Tina Hann, a St. John's resident that sits on a panel of people with experience in poverty and food insecurity. She, like many others in the city, said she believes the tax was unfair. Hann said it made life harder for parents, as the tax was applied to some fruit juices and powdered drink mixes. Sara Schimp, a coffee shop worker in downtown St. John's, said she regularly heard complaints about the tax while on shift, even though neither she nor her business could do anything about it. 'I think it kind of proved that Newfoundlanders actually will pay the extra couple of cents for their sugary drinks.' Harding said Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial sugar tax could still be a model for other jurisdictions, but urged any other politicians watching the tax's progress to take a different approach. 'Give it some time to work,' he said. 'Shoot for success, don't just shoot for public opinion.'
CBC
15-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Scrapped sugar tax won't hurt glucose monitoring program, says health minister
Days after Newfoundland and Labrador Premier John Hogan promised to scrap the sugar tax, the province's health minister promised the program it helped fund will be safe from cuts. The Sweetened Beverage Tax, also known as the sugar tax, added 20 cents to the cost of each litre of sugar sweetened beverages and brought in approximately $12-million annually. On Wednesday in the House of Assembly, NDP MHA Jordan Brown raised concerns for the future of programs the tax helped fund, including the glucose monitoring pilot program. Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell says that program is safe. "There will be no cuts to programming on our continuous glucose monitoring," Howell told reporters on Wednesday. "Actually we've had some great results from our pilot project, and stay tuned because within a week or so we're hoping to make an announcement on how we can expand that." The Department of Health has different ways it allocates funding, and the glucose monitoring pilot program is a priority, she added. Brown also asked if the provincial government would sign on to the federal pharmacare program. "Will you finally sign on to the federal pharmacare program, which includes funding for medications, glucose monitoring and test strips," he asked. Howell said she's looking forward to speaking to the new federal health minister. "We know that pharmacare is something that will benefit individuals all across this country. Newfoundland and Labrador will not be left behind," she said. Comments withdrawn On another topic, PC MHA Lin Paddock withdrew a comment he made Tuesday in the House when he accused the governing Liberals of " cooking the books" and called for the firing of Finance Minister Siobhan Coady. Paddock's comments stemmed from a CBC News story on how the provincial government used decades of future revenue from a pending settlement with tobacco companies against the province's deficit in a pre-election budget. A point of order was later called by the Liberal Party, but Paddock withdrew his comments before Speaker Derek Bennett could announce his decision on whether or not the comment was unparliamentary. Paddock reiterated his concerns about how the tobacco settlement impacted the province's deficit, repeatedly asking Coady to state what the deficit would have been without the money. "Let me rephrase that question so we can possibly get a number — if the tobacco settlement revenue is not included, what would be the deficit for this fiscal year?" he asked on Wednesday. Coady wouldn't offer a clear answer. "You make decisions based on the information that you have, whether revenue you have, what expenses you have, what programs and services you would like to introduce," she said. The 2025 budget, which has not yet passed in the House, projected a $372-million deficit, and the province is expected to receive a net benefit of almost $400 million from the tobacco settlement. Without the windfall tobacco cash, the province's projected deficit could have been roughly doubled.
CBC
12-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Newly minted Premier John Hogan says he'll axe controversial sugar tax
Newfoundland and Labrador's newest premier says he's cutting a controversial tax that was meant to deter people from buying sweetened beverages — a move he says is motivated by public concerns about affordability. The Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax, also known as the sugar tax, was introduced in 2022 under former premier Andrew Furey. It added 20 cents to the cost of each litre of sugar sweetened beverages. In the tax's first year, the provincial government took in $11 million. In a later email to Radio-Canada on Monday, treasury board secretariat spokesperson Janelle Simms said the tax brought in just over $12.5 million in 2023 and a little over an estimated $12 million in 2024. The announcement to repeal the tax was made on the floor of the House of Assembly by Premier John Hogan on Monday afternoon, during the first sitting of the spring session. "This is the first official full day on the job, so it'll take a little bit of time to work through legislative and regulatory mechanisms to see how we do it," Hogan told reporters after question period. He says he already wrote to Finance Minister Siobhan Coady earlier on Monday about repealing the sugar tax, but says she will need time to work with retailers on reversing He says he came to the decision during the leadership campaign. "It was pretty clear throughout the leadership campaign that affordability remains an issue for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians and it's a priority, as I said, of theirs. So it's a priority of our government," said Hogan. The sugar tax was introduced to encourage consumers to make healthier beverage choices, but Hogan says his announcement isn't a concession the tax wasn't working as intended and defended the impetus of the idea. "I think we need to continue to focus on healthier choices and healthy living in Newfoundland and Labrador. And premier Furey certainly focused on the well-being of this province as a key component of Health Accord N.L." he said. Hogan says the provincial government will continue to look at how people of the province can be healthier. "In the grand scheme of things, we need to continue to look at other options for well-being," he said. 'It's about time,' says Wakeham Progressive Conservative Leader Tony Wakeham, who has been calling for an end to the sugar tax since its inception, had reiterated his call on the floor of the House of Assembly ahead of Hogan's announcement. "My first reaction is, it's about time. I've been talking about that tax since it was first introduced as a measure to modify people's behaviours. It hasn't worked," said Wakeham. "All it has effectively done is take millions of dollars out of the pockets of [the] people of Newfoundland and Labrador." Wakeham says he would have repealed the tax if his party formed government in the next provincial election, which has to happen by mid-October. "And now I will be asking the premier when will we pass legislation in this session of the House — while we're sitting here this week or next week — to actually bring in the legislation to make this happen? Or is this simply going to be just another announcement," he said. Wakeham says he intends to hold the Liberal government accountable.
