Tobacco settlement will not protect future generations from addiction: advocates

The Canadian Cancer Society and other health advocates say a proposed settlement that may see tobacco companies pay out billions of dollars would do little to prevent future generations from becoming addicted to smoking.

A proposed $32.5-billion deal filed in an Ontario court would see three companies – JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. – financially compensate provinces and territories as well as some smokers and their families.

Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst and lawyer at the Canadian Cancer Society, says that while the settlement is a good first step, it fails to support public-health measures that would change the fact that tobacco is the leading cause of death in Canada.

The settlement includes $1 billion for research into tobacco-related diseases, but Cunningham says it should be modified to also account for awareness, education and community prevention programs – otherwise, the limitation is “a gift” to the tobacco industry.

“It will mean that there’ll be a huge number of people who will get cancer and other diseases in a way that’s completely avoidable,” he says.

Lung Health Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Jessica Buckley acknowledged the proposed deal sends a signal that tobacco giants are taking accountability for decades of addiction.

“But financial restitution can’t make up for the loss of life. It can’t make up for the experiences of Canadians who have suffered through lung cancer and COPD,” says Buckley.

Buckley says the nearly $25 billion that would be handed to provincial and territorial governments should be reinvested into preventing people from vaping and smoking, supporting those who want to quit smoking, and mental health and addiction initiatives.

Jacob Shelley, co-director of the Health Ethics, Law and Policy lab at Western University in London, Ont., says he’s satisfied to see plaintiffs finally get compensation after five years of legal proceedings.

Shelley, who has been closely following the lawsuit for years, says it’s “a significant kind of moment and success in what has been a very unsuccessful space in terms of litigation,” but the compensation proposed for individual smokers and their loved ones will not cover the costs of having lung cancer or emphysema.

“It’s not a meaningful individual victory in the sense of like a big payout, but it’s meaningful that there is going to be an opportunity for collection on this claim which started decades ago and that there is recognition and an imposition of liability for the failure to warn about the risks associated with the use of this product,” he says.

Action on Smoking and Health, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada and the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control say the compensation to victims is the “only positive component” of this deal.

“How is it possible that governments would allow companies that have knowingly caused the premature death and suffering of countless Canadians and an extensive burden to the health-care system, to walk away?” the advocacy groups say in a joint statement.

They say provincial governments have allowed these corporations to keep causing harm by shifting their business models to other nicotine products, such as electronic cigarettes.

“It is clear to us that the provinces have forgotten or simply dismissed their moral responsibility to protect the health and welfare of future generations,” the statement says.

The office of Ontario’s attorney general says it will have more to say on the redistribution of funds if the settlement is approved and that the provincial government is “committed to holding tobacco corporations responsible for their role in the public health crisis caused by tobacco-related illnesses.”

The federal government is not involved in the settlement, but the office of the mental health and addictions minister says it stands by its target to reduce tobacco use among Canadians to less than five per cent by 2035.

In a statement, Imperial Tobacco Canada says it is “supportive of the settlement framework and structure.”

“This settlement will be funded by the cash on hand and the cash generated from the future sale of tobacco products in Canada while at the same time maximizing recovery for the creditors,” says Eric Gagnon, the company’s vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs, in the statement.

In a press release, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges says there are still “important issues” to sort out with the plan but the proposal “represents an important step toward resolving long-standing tobacco-product litigation against it in Canada.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Hannah Alberga and Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press