An Ontario judge has begun hearing arguments about whether to approve a landmark $32.5-billion settlement that would see three major tobacco companies compensate provinces, territories and ex-smokers.
The settlement between the companies — JTI-Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges — and their creditors received unanimous support from those creditors in a vote held in mid-December.
Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz is scheduled to hear submissions from companies and other parties this week and will decide whether it should be approved.
Get daily National news
The proposed deal includes more than $24 billion for the provinces and territories to settle lawsuits they brought against the companies for health-related costs due to tobacco use and another $4 billion for plaintiffs in two class-action lawsuits heard in Quebec.
Another $2.5 billion is earmarked for Canadian smokers not included in the Quebec lawsuits, and more than $1 billion would go to a foundation to fight tobacco-related diseases.
The case originated with a landmark ruling from Quebec that found the companies had chosen profits over the health of their customers and ordered them to pay about $15 billion to plaintiffs in the two class-action lawsuits.
The case then migrated to Ontario in 2019 where the companies sought creditor protection after the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the initial ruling.
The proposed deal was crafted by the monitors appointed to each company in collaboration with a mediator, capping off more than five years of confidential negotiations.
- Shop owner bitten after 6 women try to rob family-run Ontario store: police
- Slimmed-down World Cup training facility to be one pitch, field house in Toronto
- Burst of heavy snow set to strike parts of Ontario as cold front moves in
- Family files lawsuit after Toronto mother, son die on vacation in Dominican Republic
-
Marit Stiles says Doug Ford must be ‘kidding’ if he thinks he’s best choice to negotiate with Trump -
Business Matters: Most Canadian business leaders support dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs -
Doug Ford too preoccupied with ‘booze, bike lanes, big spas’ to solve ‘basic issues’ for Ontarians: Crombie -
Ontario election: Ford looking for ‘strong, stable, 4 year mandate’ amid threat of Trump tariffs