Ontario to Sue U.S. Cig. Companies (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Ontario to seek damages from U.S. tobacco
 industry 
 06:16 p.m Apr 23, 1999 Eastern 

 TORONTO, April 23 (Reuters) - The Canadian province of
 Ontario plans to sue the U.S. tobacco industry, and believes it
 can win up to $40 billion in damages, officials said on Friday. 

 Canada's most populous province said it has retained U.S.
 legal counsel and will file a lawsuit in the United States that
 will allege, among others charges, that the industry violated
 laws against criminal conspiracies. 

 The lawsuit marks the first time a Canadian province has filed
 suit in the United States against the tobacco industry. British
 Columbia has filed a suit seeking damages from Canadian
 cigarette makers for smoking-related illness. 

 ``Ontario is taking a leadership rile as the first Canadian
 jurisdiction to retain U.S. counsel with the intent to seek
 damages,'' Ontario Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer said a
 written statement. 

 The suit is modelled on cases filed by U.S. states that alleged
 an illegal industry conspiracy to target youth smokers. Forty
 six states recently settled with tobacco manufacturers for
 $206 billion and limits on tobacco marketing. 

 A spokesman for the health minister said Ontario is filing a
 lawsuit in the United States because of its criminal conspiracy
 laws, but noted that the U.S. cigarette makers have the same
 parent companies as Canada's tobacco manufactures. 

 A Canadian Tobacco Manufacturing Council spokesman said
 he felt Ontario decided not to file suit in Canada because the
 industry has not broken any Canadian laws. The Canadian
 cigarette makers have challenged British Columbia's lawsuit as
 being unconstitutional. 

 Ontario said a review concluded the province's tobacco
 control effort was not working, and money generated by a
 successful lawsuit would pay for treating smoking-related
 illnesses and anti-smoking programmes. 

 ``Based upon initial estimates, the province could recover as
 much as $40 billion in current U.S. dollars,'' the Health
 Ministry said. The experts' review recommended a lawsuit be
 filed. 

 The province, which has a population of more than 10 million
 people, estimated tobacco kills 12,000 of its residents each
 year, and treating smoking-related illness costs its
 publicly-funded health care system C$1.1 billion annually 

 Health Ministry spokesman Barry Wilson said no date had
 been set for filing the lawsuit. The counsel representing the
 province has been active in the litigation against the industry
 by U.S. states. 

 ($1-$1.48 Canadian) 

 ((Allan Dowd, Reuters Vancouver Bureau 604-664-7314,
 fax 604-681-0491)) 
Ontario to seek damages from U.S. tobacco
 industry -2 
 04:52 p.m Apr 23, 1999 Eastern 

 Ontario to seek damages from U.S. tobacco industry -2 

 Ontario would be the first Canadian province to file a lawsuit
 in the United States against the U.S. tobacco industry. British
 Columbia has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Canadian
 cigarette producers. 

 ``Ontario is taking a leadership role as the first Canadian
 jurisdiction to retain U.S. counsel with the intent to seek
 damages,'' provincial Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer said in
 a written statement. 

 The statement did not say why the province was not also filing
 a lawsuit against Canadian cigarette producers. Canada's
 largest tobacco firms share international parent companies
 with the U.S. companies. 

 Revenues from a successful United States court action would
 be applied to the cost of health care to treat smoking-related
 illness, the provincial Health Ministry's statement said. 

 ((Allan Dowd, Reuters Vancouver Bureau 604-664-7314,
 fax 604-681-0491))