Canadian Cancer Society reacts to tobacco lawsuit settlement

A lawyer for the Canadian Cancer Society isn’t mincing words when it comes to the outcome of a historic proposed tobacco lawsuit settlement.

“The approach in the proposed settlement falls massively short and fails to protect the future health of Canadians properly,” lawyer Rob Cunningham said in a press release. “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.”

The settlement he’s referring to was announced Oct. 18, as the big three tobacco companies — Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., — submitted a 1,437-page plan in Ontario Superior Court to pay approximately $24.7 billion to provinces and territories, along with $4.1 billion to Quebec tobacco users’ loved ones following an ongoing class-action lawsuit.

In Quebec, the plan would mean individuals who started smoking tobacco before Jan. 1, 1976, could be entitled to up to $100,000 if they developed lung or throat cancer and up to $30,000 if they developed emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For those who started smoking after 1976, they could receive up to $80,000 for the cancers or up to $24,000 for emphysema or COPD.

The settlement also sets up an independent foundation with $1 billion in long-term funding — an approach the Canadian Cancer Society has long supported. But there are strings attached.

“The foundation will not be able to engage in any tobacco reduction measures such as smoking cessation initiatives, awareness campaigns or public health programs,” Cunningham said. “Instead, it is narrowly constrained to funding research focused on improving diagnosis and treatment of tobacco-related disease.

“The tobacco industry — over a period of decades — has engaged in deceitful behaviour causing insurmountable damage to the lives of Canadians and our health-care system,” he added.

“Without investing in significant measures to reduce tobacco use, this proposed settlement misses the very intention of the lawsuits in the first place, which is to curtail the damages caused by the tobacco industry,” Cunningham said. “The health disaster caused by the tobacco industry is still ongoing and needs immediate attention, which this proposed settlement fails to do. This is a deal that won’t reduce smoking.”

However, Cunningham said the Canadian Cancer Society supports payouts to the tobacco users and their families.

Creditors involved with the Quebec class-action lawsuit will vote on the proposal no later than Dec. 12, 2024, with a hearing set in Ontario court in early 2025.

Claims for Quebec individuals can’t be submitted until the plan is approved by the court.

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