This is the first time class action lawyers in Quebec and British Columbia have so strongly opposed the Ontario Supreme Court’s decision to award giants JTI-Macdonald Corp, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.
The companies have been struggling financially since Quebec’s appeals court forced them to pay almost $15 billion in compensation to 100,000 tobacco victims in that province in 2019.
The attorney’s impatience and desperation for the victims registered in the Quebec class action lawsuit was palpable during the virtual hearing in Toronto.
JTI-Macdonald Corp, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd have received numerous grace periods. (file photo)
Photo: Portal/Michaela Rehle
position of the victims
The Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health, which represents Quebec’s victims, says a three-month pardon would be enough as it’s time to see light at the end of the tunnel in this long restructuring process.
His lawyer Bruce Johnston speaks of an abuse of process. A shorter deadline will help maintain negotiation momentum and reach a solution, he said.
He points out that the progress made since the end of September 2022 was in fact only recorded in the last few weeks before this morning’s hearing and not in the last six months.
In his opinion, this proves that the parties can make profits in a very short time. A three-month delay would allow priorities to be identified, he adds.
The lawyer also points out that the procedure is unfair to his clients, since the negotiations are confidential and it is impossible to keep them informed of the content and pace of the talks.
The secrecy of the negotiations forces us to work blindly, he adds, denouncing the lack of transparency.
testimony of a dying man
Me Johnston presented the moving testimony of Émile Rioux, a member of the class action lawsuit who has since died, to the court.
I know tobacco made me so ill that I killed myself, I asked for medical help to die in a Laval hospital to end my suffering, to be with my loved ones and at peace with myself life. , he read aloud.
What should I tell his widow now? he asked the judge, explaining that many victims today have lost confidence in the judiciary. Justice delayed is justice denied, he says.
The legal dispute over the bankruptcy of the Canadian tobacco companies has been going on for three and a half years before the Superior Court of Ontario.
Photo: The Canadian Press/Pawel Dwulit
Enough is enough, he concludes, adding that the endless delays only prolong the suffering of patients and their families.
BC Tobacco Victim Class Attorney Nicola Hartigan, speaking on behalf of Kenneth Knight, also presented the same position as Johnston.
Other victims in other parts of the country have also taken legal action, but unlike those in Quebec and British Columbia, their trial has not yet been confirmed in court.
Replica of the tobacco companies
Attorneys for the three tobacco companies told Judge McEwen that their clients needed an additional six months to proceed with their restructuring. They said the three companies would have enough cash to continue their businesses by then.
Her lawyers say the talks were complicated but went well and all parties negotiated in good faith.
Tobacco companies are still selling their products while trying to avoid bankruptcy.
Photo: Radio Canada/CBC/Robert Short
Attorney Rebecca Kennedy, representing JTI-Macdonald Corp, said she sympathizes with the tobacco victims but three months is too short to reach a solution that satisfies everyone.
This is their tenth request to stay the order that allowed the 2019 stay of the court proceedings against the three companies.
They have been granted many grace periods since the historic decision of the Quebec Court of Appeals on March 1, 2019.
anamnese
At the time, the companies sought the protection of the federal Corporate Creditor Arrangements Act after losing an appeal in a class action lawsuit filed by 100,000 nicotine- or tobacco-addicted Quebecers.
The Quebec Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling ordering the companies to pay nearly $15 billion in damages to smokers in that province.
She came to the conclusion that the cigarette manufacturers acted together and failed in their duty to educate their customers about the dangers of tobacco.
Victims of the Quebec operation most often suffer from emphysema or lung or throat cancer.
Photo: Getty Images/Yasser Al-Zayyat
After their historic defeat in Quebec, a first judge in Ontario granted the three manufacturers judicial protection.
Judge Glenn Hainey of the Superior Court of Ontario stayed the decision of the Quebec Court of Appeals while simultaneously beginning all legal proceedings against tobacco companies in Canada.
The provincial governments are trying to recoup the sums they have spent for decades caring for tobacco patients.
The Canadian Cancer Society puts that amount at more than $500 billion.
deliberations of the magistrate
According to Judge McEwen, this is the longest and most complicated financial restructuring process in Canadian legal history.
Unable to make his decision on the judges’ bench as usual, this time the magistrate put his decision on hearing for a few days before the courts’ protections expired on Friday.
Nonetheless, he encouraged all parties to renew their efforts to bring their negotiations to a positive conclusion.
Ontario Provincial Attorney Jacqueline Wall supported the industry’s position, while those from Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Maritimes took no favorable or unfavorable position.
Quebec attorney Brett Harrison supported the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health’s claim, as did the Canadian Cancer Society.
In 1998, victims of tobacco industry misconduct in Quebec filed a class action lawsuit. 25 years later, a quarter of a century, that’s a very, very long time… speeding up the restructuring process has become imperative, writes company lawyer Rob Cunningham in an email.