Alberta to sue tobacco companies

Alberta will join three other Canadian provinces by filing a lawsuit against the tobacco industry in an attempt to recover some of the health-care costs of treating smokers.

Alberta Justice Minister Alison Redford made the announcement at the legislature Monday. Lawsuits have already been launched by British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick.

Ontario is seeking $50 billion dollars with its suit. Redford wouldn't comment on how much Alberta will sue for, but said that will be known in the coming year.

"We expect that we will file our statement of claim sometime in the next 12 months," she said.

"We will now go through the process of retaining legal counsel and seek their advice on what the timing will be. We fully expect that before this all gets resolved other provinces will also have to file statements of claim."

Redford said she looks forward to working with the other provinces on strategy.