Manitoba premier breaks through 'zone of secrecy' on tobacco lawsuits, says anti-smoking group head

Cynthia Callard was taken aback last weekend when she heard Manitoba's premiersay the province is expecting a settlement soon from lawsuits filed by Canadian provinces against big tobacco companies.

A major part of her 30-year professional career as executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canadaa national health organization focused on reducing tobacco-caused illness has been focused on tracking the lawsuits,butthe process has been shrouded in secrecy, she said.

"None of the governments have said anything about the lawsuits" for years, Callardsaid in an interview from Ottawa. "Over the last five years, when they've been negotiating with the tobacco companies, there's been a complete cone of silence."

At the Manitoba NDP convention in Winnipeg on Saturday, Premier Wab Kinew said an initial payment ofhundreds of millions ofdollars could arrive soon.

"These lawsuits have been in the works for many, many years and it just so happens that we now expect a settlement to be reached later this year, perhaps next year," Kinew said on May 4.

Manitoba sued major tobacco companies to recover the costs of providing health-care services for tobacco-related illness in 2012. Lawsuits by all 10 provinces named Imperial Tobacco, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and JTI-Macdonald.

The cases were stalled by a range of court battles, but in March 2019 a group of people in Quebec received $13.5 billion in damages in a class-action lawsuit against the companies. This forced the companies to seek creditor protection, putting a freeze on all other lawsuits against them.

That meantthe provinces were pushed into the creditor process. Six provinces, including Manitoba, are working together with the same legal team.

The process is now in mediation, according to court documents.

Robert Thornton, a lawyer for JTI-Macdonald, told CBC in an email that"all aspects of the mediation are confidential and no comment is possible by virtue of a court order."

Deborah Glendinning, a lawyer for Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, saidnegotiations are being conducted via a court-ordered mediation, and public comment would be a violation of the court order.

"When and if a settlement is reached it will be publicly disclosed in court filings,"Glendinning said in an email to CBC News.

Kinewwon't say how he knows settlement is near

Kinew told the NDP convention the money Manitoba is expecting from the settlement will go towardbuilding a new CancerCare Manitoba headquarters and other prevention measures.

In a statement Wednesday to CBC News,CancerCare Manitoba said itappreciates "this commitment to build a much-needed facility."

When asked for further comment about the premier's remarks, Ryan Stelter, a press secretary for Kinew, told CBC on Wednesday the premier had enough information to make the statement"and felt confident to say it."

During an in-person interview with CBC'sInformation Radio on Thursday,host Marcy Markusapressed Kinew about what makes him certain a settlement is imminent, sinceno other party involved in the lawsuit has talked about it.

Kinewreplied thathe wanted to make the announcementin the interest of transparency, saying Manitobans should know "that there is going to be a commitment that we're going to use resources to fight cancer."

Markusanoted that didn't answer thequestion about where hisinformation on a settlement is coming from,and asked if he perhaps spoke too soon on the funding.

"There's a process that's playing out and I'm going to respect the nature of that process," Kinew replied, but added a definitive "no" when asked whether he misspoke.

"We always have certain parameters of what we can talk about and when we can engage on those topics," he said.

"I'm talking about an important public policy issue to the people of Manitoba because I want you to have the opportunity to engage with it substantively. And I want you to have confidence that your government is being transparent."

Secrecy 'repugnant to policy-making'

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada's Callardsaid Kinew has "done us a real service."

"The question of how you settle or how you agree to resolve a dispute between government and industry should not have a zone of secrecy on it," she said.

"I think that it's something that needs to be talked about. I think the fact that it's been in secret should be repugnant to policy-making in Canada."

Transparency is needed, she said, because there are"huge policy implications for dealing with this industry that's caused so much harm."

But she has concerns about provincial governments receivingpayments from any settlement rooted incontinued tobacco sales.

"It suggests that we're going to continue to have cancers and heart disease and lung disease in order to keep the companies in business, in order to pay the provincial governments," Callard said.

Other provinces tight-lipped

Some other provinces have remained tight-lipped in the wake of Kinew's comments.

A spokesperson for Saskatchewan's Ministry of Justicedeclined to say whether a settlement is close.

"Saskatchewan is part of a national approach to tobacco litigation with other provinces," with alawsuit initiated in June 2012, the spokesperson said in an email, but the province won't comment further as "this matter is the subject of ongoing litigation before the courts."

A spokesperson for Nova Scotia's government also said it has no comment "while that [legal] process unfolds."

Jeffrey Leon, a lawyer representingsix provinces New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia also declined comment, citing ongoing litigation.

Manitoba premier breaks through 'zone of secrecy' on tobacco lawsuits

4 months ago

Duration 2:02

A national anti-smoking group is applauding Manitoba's premier for openly talking about long-standing lawsuits against big tobacco companies. Over the weekend, Wab Kinew said the province is expecting hundreds of millions from a settlement.