If you or someone you know has experienced the harmful effects of smoking, you could soon claim a part of a “historic” settlement proposed by Canada’s tobacco giants.
Last October, the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (QCTH) announced the filing of a proposed plan of arrangement from three major tobacco companies — JTI-Macdonald Corp.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges; and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. — after they spent over five years in negotiations with their creditors.
The QCTH says this comes more than 25 years after a class action was filed against the three tobacco manufacturers for the harm they caused and almost 10 years after a historic victory for Quebec’s 100,000 smoking victims.
Today, the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto began a series of hearings to consider the approval of the proposed $32.5 billion settlement. The hearings will be held over nine days, if necessary, from January 29 to 31, February 3 to 5, and February 11 to 13.
Who’s eligible for the proposed tobacco settlement, and how much could they get
If approved, the organization says the plan will allow the distribution of substantial financial compensation to victims, their heirs, and their heirs’ heirs.
Under the plan, the tobacco companies will pay $4.25 billion to settle the claims of Quebec’s QCTH-Blais class-action victims.
Quebec class members would be entitled to financial compensation of up to $100,000 each, according to QCTH.
The proposed settlement would also pay $2.5 billion to smokers in other provinces and territories diagnosed with lung cancer, throat cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease between March 8, 2015, and March 8, 2019. They would be compensated up to $60,000 each.
In addition, the companies would also donate $1 billion to create a charitable foundation combating smoking-related diseases. That amount includes a contribution of $131 million from the Quebec class-action settlement.
“The plan would also put an end to legal proceedings initiated by provinces and territories against any tobacco companies and their foreign parent companies in order to recover healthcare costs related to tobacco use,” read the announcement.
To do this, tobacco giants would pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories over time, including approximately $6 billion upon the plan’s implementation.
The proposed settlement was approved at a meeting of creditors on December 12, 2024. The creditors mostly include the provinces and territories, the class actions, and a representative of other individual victims.
It still needs to be approved by the Ontario Superior Court before class members can be compensated.
The QCTH says that, if approved, the settlement will be the first of its kind worldwide.
“This plan represents the last stage in the historic legal battle waged by the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (QCTH), the tobacco victims and their lawyers against the companies that have lied and hid the dangers and harmful effects of cigarettes,” stated the organization.
“The proposed settlement falls massively short”
The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has responded to this announcement with strong criticisms.
In a statement on Monday, the CCS said there are “insufficient public health measures” in the proposed settlement.
It’s urging the following changes be made to the proposed settlement:
– Restricting tobacco promotion
– Requiring public disclosure of eight million internal tobacco company documents provided to provincial governments as part of pre-trial procedures
– Expanding the mandate of the Foundation to be able to fund programs and initiatives to reduce tobacco use
– Ensuring that the tobacco industry is not protected from liability for future wrongful conduct
In a statement last year, the foundation supported the $1 billion funding but said it would not be able to engage in tobacco reduction measures like smoking cessation initiatives, awareness campaigns, or public health programs as it is “narrowly constrained to funding research focused on improving diagnosis and treatment of tobacco-related disease.”
The Canadian Cancer Society is strongly criticizing the proposed settlement in historic tobacco lawsuits. Notably, the settlement makes no mention of measures to reduce smoking.
Read our full reaction now: https://t.co/TK3Fd63bo3 pic.twitter.com/dSEp449Jcz
— Canadian Cancer Society (@cancersociety) October 18, 2024
“The approach in the proposed settlement falls massively short and fails to protect the future health of Canadians properly,” said Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at CCS.
“How can such an approach possibly be justified when we continue to have millions of Canadians who smoke each year and while tobacco remains the leading cause of cancer death? This settlement fails to support public health efforts to reduce smoking.”
It adds that the proposed $32.5 billion settlement is “a far cry” from the over $500 billion collectively being sought by provinces in the original lawsuits.
Action on Smoking & Health, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, and the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control said they are both “appalled and deeply disappointed” with the proposed plan.
“Apart from the compensation to victims or their descendants in Québec and in the rest of Canada, which is the only positive component of this deal, there is little public health benefit to be found in this arrangement,” they explained in a joint statement.
“The settlement provides no roadmap aimed at preventing these very same companies from causing more damage by recruiting new victims, including through new enticing nicotine gadgets.”
