Ontario v. Rothmans Inc.

The government of Ontario sued a variety of tobacco manufacturers seeking to recover $50 billion in health care costs caused by tobacco-related disease. The claim was brought under the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, an Ontario law that gives the government the right to recover health care costs arising from “tobacco-related wrongs.”  The government alleged that the tobacco companies engaged in a decades-long conspiracy to mislead Ontario about the health risks of smoking and to suppress information about the dangers of smoking. Six of the foreign tobacco companies argued that the Ontario courts do not have jurisdiction over them. The appeals court affirmed an earlier ruling finding that that the court has sufficient jurisdiction to proceed against the foreign companies. 

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Ontario v. Rothmans Inc, 2013 ONCA 353 (2013).

  • Canada
  • May 30, 2013
  • Court of Appeal for Ontario

Parties

Plaintiff Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Ontario

Defendant

  • Altria Group, Inc.
  • B.A.T. Industries P.L.C.
  • British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited
  • British American Tobacco p.l.c.
  • Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers' Council
  • Carreras Rothmans Limited
  • Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited
  • JTI-Macdonald Corp.
  • Philip Morris International, Inc.
  • Philip Morris U.S.A. Inc.
  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International Inc.
  • Rothmans Inc.
  • Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc.

Legislation Cited

Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, 2009, S.O. 2009

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None