When Judy LaMarsh Stood Up Against Big Tobacco
As Minister of Health, she broke a major barrier and led by example
Judy LaMarsh was a force of nature in federal politics in the 1960s. As the Minister of National Health and Welfare, she was instrumental in the creation of the Canada Pension Plan and Medicare.
As Secretary of State, she brought major changes to Canadian broadcasting, oversaw the Centennial Year of 1967 and also helped get the Royal Commission on the Status of Women started.
But there was one thing she did that often gets ignored.
On June 17, 1963, she stood up in the House of Commons and read the following words:
“There is scientific evidence that cigarette smoking is a contributory cause of lung cancer and that it may also be associated with chronic bronchitis and coronary heart disease.”
While that may seem like a minor thing for a politician to say these days, and far from controversial, it was groundbreaking for the time.
With that statement, LaMarsh was the first major western-world government official to oppose tobacco smoking publicly.
But it didn’t end there.
She wanted to practice what she preached. So, LaMarsh went cold turkey on her two decade three-pack a day smoking habit the day she spoke those words in the House of Commons.
She said,
“If I can give up a habit of 20 years and one that is that hard to break, I think it will indicate that I think it is that serious. I didn’t do this as an exercise in will power.”
Overall, the response to her decision to quit and speak out about the dangers of smoking was well received in Canada.
NDP leader Tommy Douglas jokingly asked her if she would take up pipe smoking instead, while Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson congratulated her decision to quit smoking.
Hundreds of letters came in to her office commending her for setting an example. One letter writer sent a basket of apples for her to munch on when cravings became too bad. Not all the letters were pleasant though, one came from a tobacco grower who was unhappy with her comments.
While many in the House of Commons supported her, there were other MPs who made a habit of sending her free packs of cigarettes to her desk and asking her to come join them for a smoke in the hopes of sabotaging her efforts.