Beginning in April 1996, all federal, provincial, and territorial legislators were asked to take part in structured computer-assisted telephone interviews, which lasted an average of 25 minutes. Legislators were asked about a wide range of topics, including the role of government in tobacco control, contacts with tobacco-related interest groups, attitudes toward tobacco and tobacco control policy issues, and personal tobacco experiences.

Across Canada, a total of 553 legislators (115 federal, 438 provincial/territorial) were interviewed, yielding an overall response rate of 54%.

We hope that these findings from the Canadian Legislator Study will be useful in identifying priorities for tobacco control interventions, and in guiding your activities in support of effective public programs and policies to control tobacco use in Alberta and the rest of Canada.

Please feel free to distribute copies of this report to other interested persons or organizations.

Response rates varied by province/territory as well as by party. 46 Alberta MLAs participated in this study, yielding a response rate of 55%.

The response rate affects the accuracy and the representativeness of the data. The opinions expressed by the Alberta MLAs surveyed may not reflect the opinions of all Alberta MLAs.

An Alberta provincial election was held in March 1997 near the end of the data collection period for this study. Efforts to complete interviews were continued only for cases where a prior commitment had already been made by the legislator.

6 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed felt that the government has a major responsibility regarding programs and policies to prevent young people from starting to smoke.

4 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed felt that the government has a major responsibility regarding programs and policies to help people quit smoking.

(i) Regulation as a hazardous product

7 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed supported the regulation of tobacco as a hazardous product.

(ii) Sales of cigarettes to minors

8 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded felt that stricter rules about selling cigarettes to minors would reduce the number of young people who smoke.

7 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed supported strong penalties for store owners the second time they were convicted of selling cigarettes to minors (strong penalties consisted of either a $1000 fine or not allowing stores to sell cigarettes at all).

(iii) Cigarette taxes

Half of the Alberta MLAs who responded felt that a price increase of fifty cents to one dollar per cigarette package would reduce the number of young people who start to smoke regularly.

Half of the Alberta MLAs who responded felt that a price increase of fifty cents to one dollar per cigarette package would reduce the amount that adults smoked.

6 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed supported an increase of fifty cents to one dollar per package of cigarettes.

(iv) Packaging of cigarettes

3 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded believed that plain packaging would reduce the number of young people who smoked.

(v) Restrictions on smoking

All of the Alberta MLAs surveyed supported some form of smoking restrictions in the workplace. 4 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed felt that smoking should be completely banned in workplaces.

(vi) Sponsorship and advertising

3 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed felt that the association of tobacco company names with cultural events made tobacco seem like an ordinary consumer product. 6 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed felt that the association made no difference in the way people saw tobacco products.

3 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed supported a ban on the sponsorship of cultural events by tobacco companies.

7 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded said that the government should regulate tobacco advertising, rather than allow the tobacco industry to develop its own set of guidelines.

8 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed strongly agreed that most smokers are addicted to nicotine.

7 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed said that it is very difficult for daily smokers to quit.

6 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed strongly agreed that second hand smoke can cause lung cancer in non-smokers.

But 8 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded did not know that tobacco causes a lot more deaths among Canadians than does alcohol.

8 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed reported that a constituent had contacted them about tobacco-related issues by mail, phone, or in-person, over the past two years. Of those who reported contact, almost all of the MLAs said that most of these contacts were with constituents who supported antismoking policies.

8 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed had face-to-face contact with representatives from non-profit health organizations about tobacco-related issues over the past two years.

2 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded felt that, on the whole, there was not enough contact with representatives from non-profit health organizations on tobacco-related issues.

4 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed had face-to-face contact with representatives from medical associations about tobacco-related issues over the past two years.

3 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded felt that, on the whole, there was not enough contact with representatives from medical associations on tobacco-related issues.

2 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed had face-to-face contact with representatives from the tobacco industry about tobacco-related issues over the past two years.

7 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed reported that they were likely or very likely to be persuaded by voters in their riding when taking a position in caucus on legislation about tobacco.

6 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed reported that they were likely or very likely to be persuaded by representatives from medical associations when taking a position in caucus on legislation about tobacco.

Half of the Alberta MLAs surveyed reported that they were likely or very likely to be persuaded by representatives from non-profit health organizations when taking a position in caucus on legislation about tobacco.

1 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed reported that they were likely or very likely to be persuaded by representatives from the tobacco industry.

3 in 10 Alberta MLAs said they currently smoked. Just over three-quarters of the current smokers said they smoked every day. 4 in 10 Alberta MLAs surveyed said they used to smoke every day but had quit.

4 in 10 Alberta MLAs who responded said a close friend or family member had died of a disease that may have been caused by smoking.