Canadian Tobacco Industry Collection

  

The Canadian Tobacco Industry collection contains documents from four lawsuits: two in which tobacco companies challenged federal tobacco control laws and two brought on behalf of smokers addicted to tobacco and smokers who suffered serious health problems.

Blais-Létourneau Lawsuits

These documents are from two class-action lawsuits that were tried together -- Cécilia Létourneau v. JTI-Macdonald Corp, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc (“Letourneau”) and the Conseil québecois sur le tabac et la santé and Jean-Yves Blais v. JTI-Macdonald Corp, Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc (“Blais”). The Létourneau class action sought $5,000 for each addicted Quebec smoker and $5,000 in punitive damages. The Blais class action sought $100,000 in compensation to each Quebec smoker who has suffered lung cancer, larynx cancer, throat cancer and/or emphysema as well as $5,000 in punitive damages for each victim.

More information:
Eye on the Trials
Final Judgement - May 2015
Highlights from Blais-LeTourneau lawsuits

 

Tobacco Products Control Act

Canada's first serious attempt to regulate the tobacco industry began with the passage in 1988 of the Tobacco Products Control Act which the industry challenged in court and was overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1995.

 

Tobacco Act

Two years later the federal government responded by introducing the Tobacco Act bill which contained significant restrictions on tobacco advertising; banning tobacco sponsorship of certain events; giving the federal government the authority to regulate tobacco products and packaging; and banning sales of tobacco to minors. The legislation passed and again Canada's major tobacco companies challenged it in court. Canada's Supreme Court, however, upheld the constitutionality of the law in 2007.

Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada compiled these documents.