The "13,000 lives saved" number is absurdly high, even spread over decades. Consider: sugary drinks account for a low (and falling) percentage of total calorie intake. Even total abstinence would make only a minor dent in obesity. Consumers can easily absorb a $0.20 tax by switching to cheaper brands, or to drinks that will probably be tax-exempt (fruit juice, sweetened dairy/coffee drinks, etc) but still high-sugar and high-calorie.

Finally, the entire link between sugar consumption and obesity is weak: while some countries have observed sugar consumption rising with obesity, others saw substantial declines in sugar consumption over the past 40-50 years, but obesity grew anyway! Obviously the situation is more complex than people eating too much sugar, let alone DRINKING it.

And the sugar tax would open the floodgates to even more taxes on other "bad" foods (the definition of which changes constantly). Joliver should stick to cooking and butt out of Canadian politics.