First payments from tobacco class action settlement sent to provinces

Billions of dollars from tobacco companies are starting to flow into provincial coffers following a $32.5 billion settlement. CTV’s Danton Unger explains.

The initial payments from a significant class action lawsuit against tobacco companies are starting to appear in provincial and territorial coffers on Friday.

In March, an Ontario superior court judge approved a $32.5-billion class-action lawsuit settlement from three Canadian tobacco companies - JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. The settlement sees a total of $24 billion paid out over two decades to provinces and territories, with the remaining money going to plaintiffs in the suit.

A spokesperson for the province said the amount Manitoba will receive is still being finalized, and will be reported in public accounts next month.

Cynthia Carr, executive director of the Manitoba Tobacco Reduction Alliance, said the settlement payment date is important.

“We wish it hadn’t come to this,” she said. “We know that tobacco products are the only products that if you use as they are intended, you will be harmed. But it is a legal product in Canada. Certainly, the amount of money coming in comes nowhere near to the actual health care costs that have been experienced by the government in the past, and, of course, continuing, let alone the holistic costs, the social costs, the emotional costs and the toll that have been caused by this industry.”

Premier Wab Kinew has previously indicated the money from the settlement would be used to help fund cancer treatment in Manitoba and build a new headquarters for CancerCare Manitoba.

Carr said she wants some of the money used to fund prevention programs, especially towards youth.

“We would like to see that here in Manitoba, and work in an innovative and strategic matter manner, because we know that early intervention saves lives, and that treatment later is not the answer,” she said. “Certainly, we need to continue to invest and spend (money) on treating people that have been already harmed by these products.”

Information about compensation from the lawsuit can be found on the Tobacco Claims Canada website.

With files from CTV’s Danton Unger and The Canadian Press