ND1116113

Title: Manitoba Indians Sell Contraband Cigarettes Openly

Description: The tribes are using the cigarettes in their fight over land disputes.

Page Content:

PIPESTONE, Manitoba ? Contraband cigarettes are usually sold under the counter, but the Manitoba Indians are not hiding the fact that a newly opened smoke shop stock illegal smokes. The tribes are wielding the inexpensive cigarettes as a weapon in a land dispute with Canada, the National Post reports.

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Run by the Canupawakpa, Dakota Plains and Sioux Valley First Nations, the Dakota Chundee Smoke Shop has illegal cigarettes for 50 percent or more less than cigarettes sold in Manitoba convenience stores. Tribal leaders are fully expecting law enforcement to arrest them. ?Eventually there will be an intervention,? said Orville Smoke, chief of the Dakota Plains First Nation.

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But the tribes have planned for this eventuality because they want to push Dakota sovereignty in court. ?We?re a reasonable people and I think we can compromise jurisdictions,? said Frank Brown, chief of the Canupawakpa First Nations.

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The contraband cigarettes sold out within a few hours. The Canadian Convenience Stores Association (CCSA) released a statement urging law enforcement to crack down on the illegal smokes before the ?flood gates? were opened and multiple contraband smoke shops opened across the West.

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At issue for the tribes is their contention that the Dakotas essentially do not have a treaty with Canada. Selling cigarettes and lottery tickets are part of the tribes? plan to eliminate government funding for the Dakota First Nations.

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The black market on cigarettes has significantly increased since 2002, when the government started upping cigarette taxes. ?A pack of illegal cigarettes is cheaper than gum, so it trivializes all the efforts the government has been making to keep tobacco away from youth,? said Michel Gadbois, CCSA senior vice president.

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Canada recently revealed its new graphic cigarette packaging requirements, due to go into effect in mid-2012. In June, Imperial Tobacco Canada filed a lawsuit against the First Nations alleging they are allowed to operate without regard to tobacco laws.

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Content Subject: International

Formatted Article Date: November 16, 2011

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