By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Ontario
A judge on Monday ordered three tobacco companies to pay more than $15 billion Canadian to Quebec smokers in what is believed to be the biggest civil suit award in Canadian history.
The 276-page decision by Superior Court Justice Brian Riordan follows years of court testimony and six months of deliberations.
It is the first time tobacco companies have been sued in court in a civil suit in Canada and it involved two groups of smokers – those who say they became ill from using tobacco products and others who say they could not quit because of the addictive properties of the product.
The lawsuit represented more than 1 million Quebecers who argued the tobacco companies were at fault because they knew tobacco products were harmful and hid the fact from the public.
“Today marks an important day for the victims of tobacco who have waited almost 17 years for this moment,” Mario Bujold, executive director of the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health, said in a statement as reported by Canadian media.
JTI-Macdonald and Imperial Tobacco immediately announced they would appeal the decision while Rothmans Benson and Hedges was silent.
Justice Riordan ruled the three tobacco companies must pay more than $1 billion Canadian within 60 days, even if appeals are filed.
JTI-Macdonald countered the plaintiffs’ argument that they did not know the hazards of smoking by saying Canadians have been aware of the health risks associated with smoking since the 1950s and that health warnings have been on tobacco products sold in Canada for 40 years.
“JTI-Macdonald fundamentally disagrees with today’s judgment and intends to appeal,” the company said in a statement. “The company strongly believes that the evidence presented at trial does not justify the court’s conclusions.”
Imperial Tobacco also disagreed with the court finding.
“We believe there are strong grounds for appeal and we will continue to defend our rights as a legal company,” said Tamara Gitto, vice president of law and general counsel for Imperial.
Gitto pointed to a Gallup Poll taken in 1963 where 96 percent of Canadian respondents said they knew that smoking could case lung cancer.
The award breaks down to about $100,000 Canadian each for smokers who began using tobacco before January 1976 and those who started smoking after that date get $90,000 Canadian.
Those who contracted the breathing ailment emphysema will get about $30,000 Canadian if they started before January 1976, and $24,000 Canadian each for those who started after that date.
For the 1 million Quebecers who were unable to quit, the settlement is about $130 Canadian each.
