Canada's "historic" settlement: individuals could receive up to $100,000 in compensation! Who is eligible?

If you or someone you know has suffered from the harms of smoking, you may soon be eligible for a share of a "historic" settlement proposed by Canadian tobacco giants. In October last year, the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health (QCTH) announced that three major tobacco companies - JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. - had filed proposed settlement plans, following more than five years of negotiations with their creditors. QCTH said this comes more than 25 years after class actions were launched over the harm caused by the three tobacco manufacturers, and nearly 10 years after a historic victory for 100,000 smoking victims in Quebec. On January 29, the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto began a series of hearings to consider whether to approve the proposed $32.5 billion settlement. The hearings will last nine days, held on January 29-31, February 3-5, and February 11-13 as needed. Who is eligible? How much compensation can they get? The organization said that if approved, the plan would allow for the distribution of substantial financial compensation to victims, their heirs, and the heirs of their heirs. Under the plan, the tobacco companies will pay $4.25 billion to settle claims from victims of the QCTH-Blais class action in Quebec. According to QCTH, class action members in Quebec will be entitled to up to $100,000 each in financial compensation. The proposed settlement will also pay $2.5 billion to smokers in other provinces and territories diagnosed with lung cancer, throat cancer, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease between March 8, 2015, and March 8, 2019. Each of them will receive up to $60,000 in compensation. In addition, the two companies will donate $1 billion to establish a charitable foundation to fight smoking-related diseases. This amount includes $131 million from the Quebec class action settlement. "The plan will also end legal proceedings initiated by provinces and territories against any tobacco company and its foreign parent companies, which sought to recover health care costs related to tobacco use." To this end, the tobacco giants will pay nearly $25 billion to provinces and territories in installments, including an immediate payment of about $6 billion when the plan is implemented. The proposed settlement was approved at a creditors' meeting on December 12, 2024. Creditors mainly include provinces, territories, class actions, and representatives of other individual victims. It still needs approval from the Ontario Superior Court before class action members can receive compensation. QCTH said that if approved, this would be the first settlement of its kind globally. "The proposed solution falls far short" The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) has strongly criticized the statement. In a statement on Monday, CCS said that "public health measures are insufficient" in the proposed solution. It urged the following changes to the proposed solution: - Restrict tobacco advertising and promotional campaigns - Require public disclosure of 8 million internal tobacco company documents (previously submitted to provincial governments before litigation) - Expand the foundation's mandate to allow it to fund programs and initiatives to reduce tobacco use - Ensure the tobacco industry is not exempt from liability for future misconduct In a statement last year, the foundation supported the $1 billion in funding, but said it would not be able to participate in smoking cessation initiatives, awareness campaigns, or public health programs to reduce smoking, as it is "limited to funding research focused on improving the diagnosis and treatment of tobacco-related diseases." Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst at CCS, said: "The approach in the proposed solution falls far short and fails to adequately protect the future health of Canadians." "With millions of Canadians still smoking every year, and tobacco remaining a leading cause of cancer deaths, how can this approach be justified? This solution fails to support public health efforts to reduce smoking." It added that the proposed $32.5 billion settlement is "far from" the total of more than $500 billion that provinces originally sought in the initial litigation. Action on Smoking and Health, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, and the Quebec Coalition for Tobacco Control said they are "shocked and deeply disappointed" by the proposed plan. In a joint statement, they said: "Apart from providing compensation to victims in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada or their descendants (which is the only positive part of this agreement), this arrangement offers almost no public health benefits." "The settlement provides no roadmap to stop these companies from causing further harm by recruiting new victims, including through new enticing nicotine products." Source: https://dushi.singtao.ca/toronto/新闻/新闻快递/加拿大历史性和解方案：个人可获高达10万的/