Minister of Health and Social Services, Justice and Attorney General Tracy-Anne McPhee has issued the following statement:
“I am pleased to announce a resolution of Canadian provinces and territories’ effort to recover money for our health care system from tobacco companies. The Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario approved a plan that constitutes the largest resolution of its kind in the history of Canada and the third largest ever globally.
“This litigation dealt with alleged deceitful practices and other wrongdoing by the tobacco companies from the 1950s to the 1980s. Those practices resulted in extraordinary costs to our health care system and we set out to recover those costs. The litigation that led to this plan began more than two decades ago and the mediation which produced the resolution has lasted five years.
“Under the plan, tobacco companies that sold cigarettes in Canada will be required to pay provinces and territories a total of $32.5 billion. Provincial and territorial governments worked with Justice Winkler to create a formula that takes into account a number of indicators including smoking prevalence in each jurisdiction.
“$101 million is earmarked for the Government of Yukon, with approximately $24 million to be received in the 2025–26 fiscal year.
“This plan builds on the work being done across Canada and in the Yukon to reduce the number of people who smoke. This work includes education campaigns about the dangers of smoking, programs to help Yukoners quit smoking and vaping, raising the cost of tobacco products through taxation, placing limits on where smoking can occur, bans on advertising and marketing and labelling the product as dangerous.
“Yukoners who want to quit or cut down on tobacco or nicotine use can access Quitpath, which offers free personalized coaching, 24 weeks of free nicotine replacement products and a set of hands-on tools to help you become nicotine-free. To contact Quitpath, visit the office at 305 Jarvis Street in Whitehorse, email [email protected] or phone 1-866-221-8393.”
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Ongoing government efforts in the Yukon and nationally to reduce the number of Canadians who smoke include: education campaigns about the dangers of smoking; raising the cost through taxation; placing limits on where smoking can occur; bans on advertising and marketing; and labelling the product as dangerous.
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According to the Government of Canada, approximately 12 per cent of Canadians smoke daily. That’s down from 50 per cent of Canadians who smoked daily in the past for the earlier years covered by this lawsuit addressing practices from the 1950s to 1980s.
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Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and a major risk factor for chronic diseases. In 2022, about one in five Yukoners aged 15 and older smoked occasionally or daily.
Laura Seeley
Cabinet Communications
867-332-7627
[email protected]
Jasmine Doll
Communications, Justice
[email protected]