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B.C. keeps fighting Big Tobacco
Lodging 5-year fight to force cigarette companies to pay health care
costs continues
Monday, November 24, 2003
 | | Graphic images like this are intended to
discourage smoking. Every year in B.C. alone, there are $500 million in health-care costs due to smoking. |
VANCOUVER (CP) -
The B.C. government plodded on Monday with its five-year fight to force big tobacco companies to pay for health-care spending related to smoking.
The province refuses to drop the challenge that's so far cost an estimated $15 million, despite twice being told by the courts it doesn't have the
jurisdiction to sue the multinationals JTI-Macdonald Corp. and Benson and Hedges Inc. and Imperial Tobacco Ltd.
But pressure is mounting with
other provinces filing similar cases and Rob Cunningham, spokesman for the Canadian Cancer Society, said that if the public hangs on and supports the legal
challenge until B.C. wins, the payoff could be worth billions.
"If the B.C. government and other provinces persevere, the potential benefits
to taxpayers at the end of the day are enormous. In the U.S., out-of-court settlements in 1997 and 1998 totalled $245 billion US, payable over 25
years."
However a lower court concluded that because a person could have been exposed to tobacco products anywhere in the world, a lawsuit
by a Canadian province would go far beyond its realm of authority and jurisdiction.
Tom Berger, a lawyer for the province, said in court Monday
that in an age of such massive cross-border business, there's no proof the province doesn't have the grounds to sue big tobacco.
He said
the judge that threw out the government's case "acted on speculation and surmise and not on evidence."
At the moment, no level of
government has the jurisdiction to sue and Cunningham said the tobacco companies don't have to take responsibility for the billions of dollars it costs
governments in treating smoking-related illnesses.
"Let's say someone smokes in Alberta for most of their life and moves to B.C. and has
a heart attack. The B.C. government pays health-care costs," said Cunningham.
"Lower courts said B.C. couldn't sue because the
person smoked in Alberta."
Nor can the Alberta government sue because it didn't pay the health-care costs.
Cunningham said
law in the 21st century should be able to come up with a mechanism to assign responsibility.
"If a manufacturer of a defective breast
implant in the U.S. markets in Canada, that manufacturer could be held liable in Canada because there is a duty owed to someone in Canada," he pointed
out.
But even with 19 lawyers arguing technical aspects of jurisdiction over the next five days, Cunningham said he expects the case won't be
sorted out in the Appeal Court.
With so much money at stake, whoever loses will surely apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for appeal, he said.
The Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council said the challenge is almost pointless because if B.C. won the right to collect health damages
and all the other provinces did the same, the industry couldn't afford to pay the astronomical bill.
Spokesman David Laundy said a drop in
the number of smokers and big tax bills have squeezed the companies, which he says haven't done anything but follow rules set out by the government.
"Governments already collect 10-15 times more revenue (in taxes) from the sale of tobacco products than the companies earn," Laundy said.
"The government has given permission to sell tobacco, they kept it legal and set out all the rules and regulations under which it is sold.
Now they want to turn around and sue the companies for what they have been given permission to do."
That's not stopping a number of
provinces from trying to get help in paying to care for people suffering from diseases caused by smoking.
"Every year in B.C. alone,
there's $500 million in health-care costs due to smoking and an additional half-billion dollars in other economic costs in lost productivity and
premature mortality," said Cunningham.
The province amended its legislation to facilitate a lawsuit against the tobacco industry after it
lost an initial court challenge to apply only to patients of the B.C. health-care system
Newfoundland adopted legislation very similar to
B.C.'s, which is based on a law passed in Florida that withstood constitutional challenge.
Manitoba, Quebec and New Brunswick have expressed
interest in filing claims against tobacco companies.
Ontario adopted its own legislation and filed a medicare cost recovery suit against the
tobacco industry in U.S. courts. But the court found a foreign government couldn't bring such a suit before U.S. courts.
Copyright © 2003
CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp. All
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