More than 550 federal, provincial, and territorial legislators were interviewed between July 1996 and June 1997.

Funding was provided by Health Canada's National Health Research and Development Program (NHRDP).

The principal investigators for the survey were Mary Jane Ashley of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto, Roberta Ferrence of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit at the University of Toronto, and David Northrup of the Institute for Social Research at York University; the project manager was Joanna Cohen of the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

Interviewing was completed in both official languages at the Institute for Social Research using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) techniques.

Legislators from parties in opposition were more likely to respond than those from parties in power, federal legislators were more likely to respond than those from the provinces and the territories, and high ranking members of parties, such as cabinet ministers and leaders of the opposition, were less likely to respond than other legislators.

The participation rate was particularly low for the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois; as a result, the information provided in this summary excludes responses from constituencies in Quebec.

In six of the twelve provinces and territories, 70% or more of the legislators completed the survey.

Almost 50% of non-Quebec federal legislators completed the survey.

With respect to financing health care, 77% of legislators thought the amount of money being spent by their government on health care should increase or stay the same.

More than 90% of legislators who completed the survey felt their government had some responsibility for programs and policies to promote good health among Canadians; 62% thought their government should have a major responsibility in discouraging young people from starting to smoke, and 45% thought their government should have a major responsibility in encouraging people to quit smoking.

Some legislators also thought governments have a major responsibility for preventing alcohol abuse (50%), for encouraging people to be physically active (31%), and for promoting healthy eating habits (29%).

Restrictions on smoking in workplaces and public places were strongly supported by legislators who completed the survey; 50% thought smoking should not be allowed at all in the workplace, while an additional 48% thought smoking should only be allowed in restricted areas.

Most legislators thought smoking should be banned or restricted in hockey arenas (69% and 30% for banning and restricting, respectively), restaurants (40% and 57%), and bars and taverns (21% and 65%).

81% of legislators who completed the survey agreed that tobacco, because of its health consequences, should be regulated as a hazardous product.

72% of legislators supported having an export tax on tobacco as a way to prevent the smuggling of cigarettes in the event of a price increase.

68% of legislators supported strong penalties for stores the second time they were caught selling cigarettes to minors.

67% of legislators supported the plain packaging of cigarettes.

65% of legislators supported an increase in cigarette prices.

46% of legislators supported a ban on tobacco company sponsorship of cultural events.

35% of legislators supported holding tobacco companies liable for pain and suffering that was caused by smokers= addiction to tobacco.

33% of legislators thought that Canadian governments should sue tobacco companies to recover health care costs.