Anyone living in the year 2016 who is not aware to the adverse impacts on public health from cigarette smoking must be living on a different planet. Nonetheless Judge Brian Riordan awarded $15.5 billion to a plaintiff arguing that she was not advised of the negative impact that smoking has on public health.
Awards of this magnitude are based more upon an expert knowledge of advocacy then upon an expert knowledge of the law.
In Canada judicial reform should take precedent over regulatory reform. Failure to take corrective action could dampen enthusiasm for foreign investment in Canada and will transcend the interests of the tobacco industry.
The decision of the court: quebec-class-action.
Read this excerpt from page 122:
III.B. DID JTM KNOW, OR WAS IT PRESUMED TO KNOW OF THE RISKS AND DANGERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF ITS PRODUCTS
[574]
“Moreover, from 1972 to 1989, and again from 1995 until 2000, JTIM voluntarily included a Federal Government-approved warning on all of its packages sold in Quebec. This was also true for its advertising from 1973.”
Again, the need for adult supervison.
