By Lisa Schick

Government tobacco lawsuit will go ahead

Oct 16, 2013 | 1:14 PM

A Saskatchewan judge has pulled out a wrench tobacco companies tried to throw in to the provincial government's lawsuit against them.

The province of Saskatchewan is suing 10 tobacco companies, trying to recoup health care costs from diseases related to the sale and use of their products. No number is given in the lawsuit, but it's safe to say it could be worth billions.

Six of the companies (B.A.T Industries p.l.c., British American Tobacco p.l.c., British American Tobacco [Investments] Limited, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco International Inc., and Carreras Rothmans Limited) filed an application to dismiss the suit against them, saying that because they're foreign companies the court has no jurisdiction over them.

According to court documents, the companies were trying to argue that there was only a tenuous connection between them and their alleged activities in Saskatchewan and that any decision would be unenforceable in foreign jurisdictions.

But on Oct. 1, a Court of Queen's Bench judge decided to dismiss the claim. The judge cited similar lawsuits in B.C., New Brunswick, and Ontario. Tobacco companies were sued for similar reasons in those provinces and tried to dismiss the suits for jurisdictional reasons, but in all three cases judges denied the applications.

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This means the lawsuit will be going ahead against all the defendents but it likely won't proceed very quickly; the six have already filed a leave to appeal the decision.

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