Conservatives : Jobs First, Health… whatever.

Only in the Conservative Mindset is it acceptable to save jobs in the Tobacco Industry even if it means amending laws to prevent Big Tobacco to market to youth by adding fruity flavors to their coffin nails.

“Freedom of choice is a fundamental principle in a civilized society. We can think what we want about the act of smoking (personally, I don’t smoke), but it remains legal,” Bernier wrote on his blog.

Of course Conservatives say it’s a question of freedom of choice. But can you really have choice when the options are a danger to your health? This isn’t about democracy. Because if you asked the masses if they still wanted to pay taxes we all know what the answer would be so of course we don’t leave that up to the masses. So if we had left the tobacco laws to the rule of masses we would still be breathing that smoke in offices, hospitals and restaurants. Laws don’t exist because the masses agreed; they exist to keep the masses honest. Without laws we’d all be poo-flinging monkeys up in trees.

But of course, in the name of saving jobs and keep their corporate contributions coming, the Conservatives would most likely set fire to a litter of puppies in front of toddlers. Because it’s the economy stupid. So it comes to no real surprise to read

But Tories from Quebec pushed for changes after Rothmans warned it might have to rethink plans to expand its Quebec City plant – jeopardizing some 330 jobs – if the legislation passed without amendments.

The Quebec Conservative caucus, led by former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier, deemed the legislation too broad. (source)

Ok let’s be clear that the Rothmans plant is not about to close, sadly and that the loss of jobs is a loss of projected jobs due to a planned expansion. So the conservatives don’t want to save jobs, they want to expand the tobacco market. Expand the tobacco market? Are you fucking kidding me?

To be a true utilitarian let’s bring it down to simple math.

Smoking contributes to more than 37,000 deaths a year in Canada, of which almost 11,000 are heart disease and stroke-related (29% of all smoking-related deaths are heart disease and stroke-related).

Almost 6,300 non-smokers die each year from exposure to second-hand smoke.

Smoking is responsible for 14.54% of all heart disease and stroke deaths.

If current rates of tobacco use continue, approximately 1 million Canadians will die over the next 20 years as a direct result of smoking and second-hand smoke. (source)

If you had a choice between having even more people smoking and dying a slow-choke death like the already 37000 smoking related deaths over the next year or you could create 330 jobs in a dying industry, which would you chose? If you are intellectually honest you would axe Rothmans in a heartbeat. These jobs can be created in the Green industry which is something the conservatives are amazingly efficient at ignoring.

But then who would ever expect the conservative to learn math? They are too busy writing their agenda while they are still in power. The industry needs to die. It’s a cancer. So Rothmans wants to be bailed out by the government – which goes against the free market ideals of the conservative mindset – well I say let them die.

I can’t even understand, knowing everything that we know about smoking and its consequences how anyone with a moral compass can remain in the employment of these merchants of death anyway. And I don’t accept the Yuppie-Nuremberg defense as an excuse. I think all corporations have skeletons in their closets and yeah people gotta work. But this is to extreme. Might as well become a hitman, it’s the same thing, only in slow motion.