A law expert from Toronto says he thinks a government case against a First Nations tobacco company could be a little weak.
Several months ago the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. all launched legal action against Rainbow Tobacco for importing cigarette cartons on reserve without paying provincial tax.
The governments labeled the cigarettes as contraband and seized thousands of cartons.
For its part the company, which is situated on Mohawk Land in Quebec, insists it doesn’t need to pay provincial tax because the cigarettes are coming from First Nations land and intended for First Nations people.
Professor Shin Imai says he doesn’t know the specifics of the case but he thinks Rainbow Tobacco could have a point:
“So if the cigarettes from Rainbow are headed on reserve and they’re actually going to be smoked on that reserve or another reserve I don’t think the province really has very much to say about that and I think that they would concede they don’t have much to say about that.”
At the same time Imai says the province could have a point if it can prove the cigarettes are intended to be sold to non-aboriginal customers for use off the reserve.