B.C. to receive $3.7B through Canadian settlement with tobacco companies
Money to be paid out by tobacco companies over 18 years
B.C. will receive about $3.7 billion from tobacco companies, as part of a settlement that comes after a long-running legal battle between tobacco giants and Canadian provinces and territories over the health-related consequences of smoking.
Premier David Eby is hailing the ruling for finally creating consequences for tobacco companies, but a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society says while the settlement is large, he wishes it were more prescriptive in regards to anti-smoking efforts.
According to a statement from the province, B.C. will receive the money over 18 years to invest in cancer treatment and research, and to promote smoking cessation.
Smokers, former smokers or their representatives living in Canada will also be able to seek individual compensation through Tobacco Claims Canada, Canadian Cancer Society analyst and lawyer Ron Cunningham said.
Roughly speaking, the compensation applies to people who were heavy smokers prior to 1998 and diagnosed with certain cancers or emphysema between 2015 and 2019.
Cunningham said that for decades, the Canadian Cancer Society fought for the settlement to include "strong public health measures to reduce smoking."
In the United States, the settlement with tobacco companies included restrictions on promoting tobacco, the disclosure of millions of pages of secret internal tobacco company documents, and the establishment of a foundation to reduce tobacco use, Cunningham said.
But, that didn't happen with the settlement in Canada. Instead, Cunningham said, it's now up to each province to use the funding towards reducing tobacco use as they see fit.
The total settlement amount rings in at $32.5 billion, to be distributed among provinces and territories.
In a statement, Eby acknowledged that the money cannot bring back those who died from tobacco use.
"While no amount of money will ever bring lost loved ones back or fully compensate for the harm done, this agreement ensures there are real consequences for corporate wrongdoing," he said.
B.C. began legal action against the three principal Canadian tobacco companies — JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. — in 1998.
In December of last year, all provincial and territorial governments, as well as class-action plaintiffs, voted to accept the settlement plan proposed by a court-appointed mediator.
"Today's resolution with tobacco companies after this long-standing litigation will provide direct compensation to people harmed by the effects of smoking, deliver critical funding for health-care systems across Canada and establish a foundation to support treatment research," said B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma.
Eby said the settlement is the largest resolution of its kind in Canada.
Imperial Tobacco vice president Eric Gagnon said in a statement that the company is committed to honouring the "milestone" agreement.
The settlement, Gagnon said, "maximizes value for claimants" because it will be funded by profits generated from the future sale of tobacco products in Canada.
It also resolves outstanding tobacco litigation in the country and provides a "full and comprehensive release to Imperial Tobacco," he said.
Finally, Gagnon added, it will allow the company to emerge from creditor protection.
With files from Tessa Vikander and Rafferty Baker