The Canadian Tobacco Control Coalition
By Ken Kyle
Canadian Cancer Society

Success in Canada—Hard work by Canada's national tobacco control coalition has been a critically important component for many successes in tobacco control advocacy during the past fifteen years. Achievements include strong restrictions on tobacco advertising and promotion, high tobacco taxes, numerous secondhand smoke laws, prominent picture-based tobacco package labeling, increased funds for government programming including mass media de-normalizing advertising, defense of tobacco laws in court, and consequent rapidly declining smoking prevalence rates.

The industry—The tobacco industry is a formidable foe. It opposes effective government action to control the tobacco epidemic. The industry is unique; its products are harmful when used as intended. No other industry is so irresponsible on such a large scale—it kills its best customers.

Government—Governments can never be taken for granted as a natural ally in tobacco control. Sometimes government officials indicate they have to treat this industry just like any other regulated industry. Some government officials say they must represent tobacco executives, cigarette factory workers, and tobacco farmers as much as oncologists, public health workers, and victims of cancer-caused diseases. All are voters. The political cycle is only a few years—not the 20 to 30 year cycle for tobacco-caused cancer and heart disease.

The solution—The armory to counteract the onslaught is the "comprehensive approach" to tobacco control-also called the "multi-pronged attack." A variety of measures must be implemented simultaneously: fiscal measures, health promotion, cessation programs, and so forth. However, the indispensable component in the arsenal is legislative reform—changing the social environment through government regulation.

The coalition—Canada's national tobacco control coalition has worked under a variety of names over the last seventeen years. It is now the Canadian Coalition for Action on Tobacco (CCAT). Much of its success has been through a partnership of health charities together with aggressive anti-tobacco organizations funded by government.

Mission Statement—CCAT works to coordinate public policy advocacy in order to persuade the federal government to introduce measures aimed at reducing tobacco use and its consequences.

Objectives—CCAT has four objectives:

1. prevent tobacco use among Canadians
2. encourage and support smokers in quitting
3. protect people from tobacco smoke
4. ensure the accountability of the tobacco industry

Coalition operating procedures:

Membership—The Coalition is currently composed of 6 voting member organizations and a group of affiliate members (without voting privileges). The six current voting members are:

• Canadian Cancer Society
• Canadian Council for Tobacco Control
• Canadian Lung Association
• Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
• Non-Smokers' Rights Association
• Physicians for a Smoke Free Canada

The current affiliate members are:

• Various national professional associations such as the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Dental Association
• Provincial tobacco control coalitions and grassroots organizations

Both voting and affiliate members become part of the coalition by officially endorsing the CCAT's platform (i.e., the mission statement, objectives, and measures).

Platform—The coalition's platform cannot be altered without the explicit authorization of all voting members. Nonvoting members must also be approached for endorsement of the platform in the event that changes are made.

Individual campaigns—Members of the coalition are within their rights to act independently on their own separate individual campaigns, without the consent of other members of the coalition, provided they do not use coalition assets (i.e., coalition name, letterhead, etc). Coalition members can also work in partnership with other members of the coalition on campaigns that do not utilize coalition assets.

CCAT campaigns—The decision to embark upon a particular campaign that utilizes coalition assets must be made on a unanimous basis. That is, all six voting members of the coalition must agree to proceed with the campaign before coalition assets can be utilized. Moreover, unanimous agreement is required regarding the approval of content of communications documents relating to a campaign (e.g., press releases, reports, ads, etc). In the event that one of the six voting members makes the decision not to be part of a particular campaign (veto)—the use of the coalition assets would consequently not be permitted. This particular provision will be revisited.

Affiliate member and grassroots organizations may be asked to participate/lend their name to certain campaigns. They are free to intervene when they wish on a particular campaign, and on any particular aspect of that campaign (e.g., focusing upon a single measure within the campaign). The decision to join a campaign, and the extent to which it wishes to be active, is strictly up to the organization in question.

CCAT does not need to seek the approval of, or consult with, the affiliate members insofar as routine, day-to-day campaign operations and tactics are concerned.

Further reading—Detailed information and analysis can be found in two excellent books, "Smoke & Mirrors: The Canadian Tobacco War" by Rob Cunningham, International Development Research Centre, 1966 (also available in French and Russian) and "Tobacco Control: Comparative Politics in the United States and Canada" by Donley T. Studlar, Broadview Press, 2002. Two excellent international award winning videos on CCAT campaigning are Lobbying For Lives: Lessons From The Front and Up From The Ashes, produced by MediCinema Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, in association with the Canadian Cancer Society.

Ten Commandments—Below are some suggestions that have worked in Canada in coalition management:

TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR TOBACCO CONTROL COALITIONS

1. Ensure that building and maintaining a coalition is not the primary objective
   • ensure that the goal is to reduce tobacco use-not just to have a smooth running coalition
   
   
2. Keep the coalition loose and flexible
   • negotiate an agreement on clear objectives
   • ensure decisions are not constrained by the lowest common denominator
   • involve both formal organizations and informal networks
   • involve a diversity of groups if possible
   • keep networking
   
   
3. Focus on "leadership" more than "management"
   • there must be a coordinating group of respected leaders
   • take risks—"If the creator had a purpose in equipping us with a neck, he surely meant us to stick it out." (author, Arthur Koestler)
   • "no one ever managed men into battle" —(Captain Grace Hopper, US Navy)
   • "leaders are movers and shakers, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, full of surprises that discomfit the enemy in war and the main office in peace. Managers, on the other hand, are safe, conservative, predictable, conforming . . . team players, dedicated to the establishment" (American classics professor and WWII veteran Dr. Hugh Nibley)
   
   
4. Be proactive
   • be on site where the action is—show up at news events, government hearings, etc. to do media advocacy
   • continually re-set the agenda for action
   • "planning is the enemy of opportunity" (Dr. Nigel Gray, Past President, International Union Against Cancer)
   • however, do plan to put in place the necessary resources to take advantage of opportunities as they arise
   • "don't just have a strategic plan; be a strategic organization" (Julie White, CEO, Canadian Cancer Society)
   • scan the political environment
   • find new initiatives to keep momentum
   • "Hope is neither passive waiting nor is it the unrealistic forcing of circumstances that cannot occur. It is like the crouched tiger, which will jump only when the moment for jumping has come." (psychoanalyst Erich Fromm)
   
   
5. Find professional lobbying expertise
   • determine the distinct roles of staff and volunteers
   • be non-partisan in approach
   
   
6. Remember "without involvement, there is no commitment" (author Steve Covey)
   • plan communication activities
   • be careful with confidential information
   
   
7. Don't get out too far in front of your own forces—or you may be mistaken as the enemy and shot in the back
   • get coalition agreements up front
   • adapt the organization to the way that advocacy works-not the other way around
   
   
8. Keep proper perspective
   • a sense of humor always helps
   • no one is indispensable; "in the long run, we are all dead" (economist John Maynard Keynes)—non-smokers as well as smokers
   • evaluate collective results
   
   
9. Recognize collaborate achievements
   • check egos at the door—be dedicated to the joint effort, not self-promotion
   • share the credit; "failure is an orphan; success has many fathers"
   • don't be dogmatic; it's the tobacco industry that demands absolute proof
   
   
10. Use best practices (lessons learned)
    • talk to the veterans
    • call on international colleagues for help
    • use the UICC's GLOBALink for communication
    • attend and participate in the world conferences on tobacco or health