Health Canada will require tobacco companies to start making cigarettes that are less likely to cause fires, after an Ontario backbencher's private member's bill became law Thursday night.

The cigarettes are designed to extinguish more quickly if the person stops puffing on them, meaning they are less likely to smoulder among bedclothes or furniture upholstery if a smoker falls asleep or accidentally drops one while it is lit.

For five years, Liberal MP John McKay of Scarborough East has been pushing his own government to pass legislation requiring tobacco companies to make fire-safe cigarettes, also known in the industry as "reduced ignition propensity cigarettes."




"It is because of the efforts of this member that I have asked Health Canada to draft regulations for the Tobacco Act for reduced ignition propensity standard for all cigarettes in Canada," Health Minister Pierre Pettigrew said in the House of Commons Thursday.

He then turned around and acknowledged McKay's efforts to see his bill become law by shaking his hand.

Between 1995 and 1999, at least 14,000 fires were caused in Canada by unattended cigarettes that ignited something flammable. These fires killed 356 people, injured another 1,615 people and caused property damage estimated at more than $200 million.

McKay said the new cigarettes will not stop all fires, but called his bill a start.

"You can never, never make a cigarette completely fire-safe, but you can reduce its ignition propensity in the order of 75 to 80 per cent," he said.

McKay's legislation is not unique. The state of New York passed legislation last year requiring self-extinguishing cigarettes, and other jurisdictions around the world are looking at similar laws.

Yves Dorval of Imperial Tobacco said his company, for one, is not opposed to the idea of making fire-safe cigarettes.

"We will work hard to meet this and we will comply with the law," he said Thursday.

Imperial Tobacco does have some questions about how the cigarettes work, he said, including whether they will be accepted by the public, and how soon manufacturers will have to start making them.

Details of the draft regulations will be published later this month.