Province targets tobacco industry

The province is looking for some legal firepower to go after Big Tobacco.

Nova Scotia and Manitoba plan to join other provinces in trying to recoup health-care costs incurred from the 1950s to the 1980s, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

Justice Minister Ross Landry says the industry must be held accountable for promoting tobacco use in the province.

"This matter is about the medical evidence that shows the substance was addictive, and there were issues with the tobacco companies in the disclosure of that information," he told reporters Thursday in Halifax. "And as a result of that action, people got addicted and illness and disease resulted in our society."

Nova Scotia and Manitoba plan to hire a legal firm with broad-based experience in tobacco-related law and the resources to take on the case.

Landry couldn’t say how much such a case could cost the province, or the amount being sought from the tobacco companies.

"We need to get a legal opinion on what the benefits are, what the costs are, and at that time we can make an evaluation as to the cost," he said.

The firm would be paid on a contingency basis — that is, only if the provinces were successful in recouping costs from the industry.

Heath and Wellness Minister Maureen MacDonald welcomed the move, noting that recouping health-care costs is part of the province’s new tobacco control strategy.

"Certainly from a financial point of view, it has an impact," MacDonald told reporters Thursday. "It diverts resources that perhaps we could put (elsewhere) if we didn’t have to do that. The human toll is not something you can put a price tag on."

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates smoking-related illnesses cost the province about $200 million each year.

Tobacco companies have in the past "wilfully misled" governments and consumers on the health effects of their product, said Nick Langley, manager of public issues for the society’s provincial division, after the announcement Thursday.

"I think there’s a need to get the truth on the matter and we look forward to the lawsuit, as other provinces have gone that route."

New Brunswick, Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador are actively pursuing lawsuits. Quebec and Alberta have announced they’ll look into legal action.