Health groups want anti-smoking measures added to legal settlement with tobacco companies

Three Canadian health organizations are calling on the country’s provinces to seek measures to reduce smoking in a settlement with major tobacco companies that began four years ago.

But they are frustrated not to have a say at the table.

In an open letter the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Lung Association and Heart and Stroke Foundation urge governments to make cutting tobacco use a top priority.

It’s part of a lawsuit filed by provincial governments seeking a collective $500 billion in damages from three tobacco companies.

Lawsuits by all 10 provinces, with British Columbia filing the first one in 1998, are against Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., and JTI–Macdonald Corp., as well as their foreign parent corporations.

Rob Cunningham with the Canadian Cancer Society says it’s a major problem that tobacco companies are at the negotiation table but health organizations are not.

“Provincial governments should be hearing from health organizations with expert recommendations as to what could be included in the settlement and provincial governments should be open to say what their priorities are,” said Cunningham, a lawyer and senior policy analyst with CCS.

“Effective programs on policy can make a huge impact in reducing tobacco use.”

CityNews reached out to Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, who is the Chair of the Council of Federations – a collective of all provincial and territorial premiers – asking why health organizations are not at the table. A government spokesperson responded saying they were unable to comment as the process is in the courts.

Smoking kills 46,000 Canadians every year

Dr. Lesley James from the Heart and Stroke Foundation says smoking causes around 46,000 deaths in Canada annually. People who smoke are twice as likely to have a heart attack and they are twice as likely to die from heart disease and stroke, James says.

“We still have about 12 per cent of people in Canada smoking and this is because the tobacco industry has preyed on people for decades,” she said.

James says smoking is one of the major contributors to the burden on Canada’s public health-care system – a system that is still feeling the effects from the pandemic.

The health organizations say at least 10 per cent of the money from a settlement should go toward long-term funding to slash smoking, such as support programs and research to help people quit.

“The Government of Canada has a target of five per cent smoking rates by 2035. Right now, we need to ramp up those control efforts to get us there and this settlement is an opportunity to fast-track that,” said James.

New Zealand bans sale of tobacco products

In an aggressive move to suppress smoking, New Zealand passed a law to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009.

Cynthia Callard from Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada says keeping tobacco companies in business is detrimental.

“We are still mopping up the enormous problems that they caused say 1950 and now, and we have a whole new wave of problems that are emerging with vaping products addicting a new generation,” said Callard, the group’s executive director. “Essentially, the way to deal with this industry is to get rid of it.”

Canadian Cancer Society says tobacco use causes multiple diseases and 16 types of cancer, including lung, throat, esophageal and pancreatic. Cunningham says tobacco companies need to be held accountable for the damages they have caused.

“It cannot be that in the future, tobacco companies are able to repeat their wrongdoing of the past,” he said. “It cannot be business as usual form tobacco companies. This settlement must have measures on controls on tobacco companies, so that public health is the priority going forward after the settlement.”