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VANCOUVER – Today the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled
unanimously in favour of B.C.’s effort to hold the tobacco industry to account
for practices that have harmed so many British Columbians, said Health Minister
George Abbott.
“Today all nine judges of Canada’s highest court
ruled in our favour,” said Abbott. “Now we can proceed with our case to recover
the costs that are owed to the taxpayers of B.C.”
British Columbia’s lawsuit alleges that, since the
1950s, the tobacco industry failed to warn consumers about the harmful and
addictive nature of tobacco. Had the industry complied with its legal duty,
smoking rates would have dramatically decreased much earlier; fewer people
would have succumbed to tobacco-related disease; and tobacco-related health
costs would have been lower.
As a result of the tobacco industry’s failure to
warn about the risks of tobacco use in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, people,
particularly youth and women, took up smoking. It is the health care costs for
these smokers that the government seeks to recover from the tobacco industry.
“Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of
disease and death,” said Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer. “In
B.C., lung cancer now kills more women than breast cancer.”
“British Columbia thanks the eight other provinces
that intervened in support of our case in the Supreme Court of Canada. This is
truly a victory that all of Canada can share,” said Abbott. “The Supreme Court
has confirmed in this ruling that the tobacco manufacturers will receive a fair
civil trial under B.C.’s Act, and we look forward to the chance to prove our
solid case.”
The lawsuit asserts that, among other indiscretions,
tobacco manufacturers marketed “light” cigarettes as safer when they knew they
were not; targeted children in their advertising and marketing; conspired to
suppress research on the risks of smoking and to invalidate the public warning
on the risks of smoking; and are responsible for health care costs associated
with smoking.
British Columbia’s Tobacco Damages and Health Care
Costs Recovery Act authorizes the B.C. government to seek recovery of
tobacco-related health care costs that arose as a result of the tobacco
industry’s misconduct. The Act sets out procedural and evidentiary rules that
level the playing field in any action against the tobacco industry.
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Ministry of Health 250 952-1887 |
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Visit the Province's website at www.gov.bc.ca for online information and services. |
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