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Lawsuit Against Tobacco Industry

N.B. Becomes Second Province To File Lawsuit Against Tobacco Industry

The Canadian Press – 14th March 2008

FREDERICTON — New Brunswick has become the second province to officially file a lawsuit targeting the tobacco industry.

Health Minister Mike Murphy said Thursday the province is committed to holding tobacco companies accountable for the suffering caused by tobacco products.

“The suit is on behalf of people whose health has been harmed by tobacco products, families who have lost loved ones to tobacco-related illness, and taxpayers who have borne the added costs to the health-care system,” he said.

While no one in the government was willing to put a dollar figure to the suit, it’s expected the province will be seeking to recover tens of millions of dollars.

“Numbers, of course, are going to be substantial because we believe the province of New Brunswick has spent millions of dollars in health care for citizens who have tobacco-related injuries or damages,” said T.J. Burke, New Brunswick’s attorney general.

“Tobacco has caused tremendous damage to citizens in the province of New Brunswick, and the government has paid substantial costs in medicare with respect to damages related to smoking activity and we’re going to recover those costs from these tobacco companies.”

News of the lawsuit was welcomed by the president of the New Brunswick Lung Association.

Ken Maybee said thousands of Canadians have died prematurely because of smoking, and people who started smoking at a younger age are now suffering from emphysema and acute bronchitis.

“It is very painful and debilitating to them and very costly to the health-care system,” said Maybee.

He said once a settlement is reached, his group and others will have to be vigilant to ensure a portion of the money is used to fund smoking prevention.

British Columbia was the first province to launch a lawsuit against the industry while Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia have all taken legislative steps to clear the way for their own.

New Brunswick’s Liberal government announced in December 2006 that it would take legal action, but provincial legislation allowing it to do so was only proclaimed last week.

The province is using a consortium of lawyers, including two U.S. firms that have been involved in settlements at the state level.

Negotiated settlements by the 50 American states totalled more than US$245 billion over 25 years.

Michael Perley, director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco, said he expected lawsuits in Canada could be of the same magnitude.

“There’s no reason to believe we shouldn’t achieve the same results here in Canada because the behaviour of the American companies that led to that settlement is no different from the Canadian companies over the same periods of time,” said Perley.

He called New Brunswick’s case “good news,” but said it was long overdue.

Perley said all the provinces should have filed suit 10 years ago. He hoped that New Brunswick’s action would spur other provinces, including Ontario, to take the tobacco industry to court.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has said his government doesn’t want to punish big tobacco and warned there’s “considerable doubt” about the likely success of a lawsuit.

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