Sweet suggestion
Sugar tax idea receives mixed reviews in N.L.
Mount Pearl resident Jonah Patten takes fitness and health pretty seriously, and he says if there were a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and artificially sweetened drinks in Canada, it would be a positive change for everyone.
Last week, Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) representatives pitched the idea of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages to the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), which passed the resolution and is pressuring the federal government to implement a tax.
The idea would be to tax manufacturers of sugary drinks during production, as opposed to charging consumers at the purchase point. The hope is that the added cost will persuade people to make healthier decisions in the long run.
“Hopefully it’ll get people away from carbonated drinks and help keep them away,” Patten, 37, said.
He hasn’t had a soda in at least nine years.
“Once I started cycling, it just wasn’t worth it to always feel so bloated and energized,” he told The Telegram.
He said people can make the soda transition easily, if they stick to it and are serious about their health.
“I made the choice to stop drinking pop a long time ago and I’ve never felt better. The tax is a great idea, in my opinion. This is the first I’m hearing of it, but hopefully it will open some eyes about what people are putting into their bodies before they go and do it.”
Belbin’s Grocery is a wellknown family run grocery store in St. John’s, and store manager Gerry Tulk says although they haven’t heard much about a sugar tax yet, he doesn’t think it’ll have much of an effect on local businesses.
“We’re taxed to death as it is — a little bit more won’t matter,” he told The Telegram. “I mean, it’s a lot like how cigarettes are taxed, by the sounds of it. You won’t see the tax on the receipt when you buy it, just the 15 per cent taxation. But I believe that if people want their Pepsi, they’re going to have their Pepsi.”