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Ontario's motion to push forward with tobacco firms suit rejected

Google

Senior Member
Joined Oct 20, 2011
Messages 233
News about this died a few years ago but now they are in the 15 billion range WOW.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/ontar...rd-with-tobacco-firms-suit-rejected-1.4397987

TORONTO -- An Ontario judge has rejected the provincial government's request to lift a stay on legal proceedings against three major Canadian tobacco companies.

The Ontario government's request, if granted, would have allowed its lawsuit to recover smoking-related health costs to push forward.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas McEwen dismissed the government's request in a one-page ruling released on Friday, with a promise that "reasons will soon follow."

The province launched its lawsuit roughly a decade ago against a dozen Canadian firms and their parent companies to recoup past and present health-care costs related to smoking.

The case was expected to go to trial late next year or in early 2021.

But pre-trial preparations stalled last month after three of the tobacco companies involved in the suit -- Imperial Tobacco Canada, JTI-Macdonald Corp. and Benson & Hedges -- sought creditor protection in response to a separate legal battle in Quebec.

Earlier this year, Quebec's highest court upheld an earlier judgment which ordered those firms to pay more than $15 billion to smokers in that province who took part in two class-action lawsuits.

The companies then sought relief in the Ontario court and obtained orders suspending all legal proceedings against them while they attempt to negotiate a settlement with all their creditors, including Ontario and other provincial governments.

In a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for Ontario said the trial cannot move forward without the three companies that are seeking creditor protection, because the case includes joint allegations that involve them.

The three companies opposed Ontario's motion and argued that resuming trial preparations would distract from and undermine the negotiations. The companies also argued that the Ontario government cannot claim to be committed to mediation while it devotes resources to a parallel legal process.

McEwen had previously extended the stay of legal proceedings, saying it was necessary to ensure a level playing field between the parties.
 

ROBERTSON

Senior Member
Joined Mar 27, 2018
Messages 1,413
There are a lot of other companies and even governments that should be sued for costs, if one was not to take the easy money grabbing road.

And,... did anybody force people to start smoking, even today I see people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and so on still smoking.

And those who are in their teens are still taking up the habit, even though their parents don't smoke, makes me want to give them a good shake.

Any health care costs contributed to an individuals smoking, should be funded by that individual.

Paying over $100 for a carton of cancer sticks, can you spell,... STUPID.

Yes,... I know its a tough addiction, but I know a lot of mature people who have quit, so know excuses.

Sorry for the rant, but this subject really pisses me off.
 

ROBERTSON

Senior Member
Joined Mar 27, 2018
Messages 1,413
Joseph;n1468532 said:
Tobacco companies denied for decades that it didn't kill you. they lied so make them pay.



So what, I would have thought that any responsible government would be aware that inhaling smoke, is not could for your health.
And did nothing to make their citizens aware, so who should be sued ?

And the government now is stating that individuals should rely on private companies stance on its products affect on a persons health ?

Governments allowed tobacco to be sold, and still do today, so who is at fault ?

Mind you, a lot of governments would dearly miss the taxes collected, so not likely to change.
 

ROBERTSON

Senior Member
Joined Mar 27, 2018
Messages 1,413
"The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) was entered in November 1998, originally between the four largest United States tobacco companies (Philip Morris Inc., R. J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard – the "original participating manufacturers", referred to as the "Majors") and the attorneys general of 46 states. The states settled their Medicaid lawsuits against the tobacco industry for recovery of their tobacco-related health-care costs.[SUP][1][/SUP][SUP]:25[/SUP]In exchange, the companies agreed to curtail or cease certain tobacco marketing practices, as well as to pay, in perpetuity, various annual payments to the states to compensate them for some of the medical costs of caring for persons with smoking-related illnesses. The money also funds a new anti-smoking advocacy group, called the Truth Initiative, that is responsible for such campaigns as Truth. The settlement also dissolved the tobacco industry groups Tobacco Institute, the Center for Indoor Air Research, and the Council for Tobacco Research. In the MSA, the original participating manufacturers (OPM) agreed to pay a minimum of $206 billion over the first 25 years of the agreement."

medical costs,... RE: MEDICARE and MEDICAID.
 
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