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| The civil suits spent 15 years in the legal system before coming the trial |
A Canadian
class-action lawsuit that could cost three large tobacco companies up to C$27bn
(£17.4bn) is set to begin in Montreal.
Two sets of
smokers are arguing Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans Benson and
Hedges manipulated nicotine levels and hid research on the health effects of
smoking.
It is the
largest suit of its kind brought before a Canadian court.
The trial
opens as six provinces plan to sue the companies for health costs.
A similar
suit in the US led to major tobacco companies paying $246bn over 25 years for
health-care costs.
Tobacco
giants
The largest
of the two Canada class actions seeks C$10,000 in damages for each of the
estimated 1.8 million Quebec residents who say they are unable to quit smoking.
That case
is joined by a separate class of 90,000 complainants who have fallen ill with
emphysema and cancer of the throat and larynx. They are suing for C$105,000
each.
One of the
witnesses in the civil suit will be Robert Proctor, author of a book about the
US tobacco industry, Mario Bujold, director general of the Quebec Council on
Tobacco and Health told AFP.
The tobacco
firms are expected to argue that consumers were informed of the risks of smoking.
The firms
fighting the lawsuit are some of the world's largest tobacco companies.
UK-based
Imperial Tobacco has gone to court in Scotland over a ban of the open display
of tobacco products. It is part of the British American Tobacco group, which
has the second-largest market share in tobacco in the world.
JTI-Macdonald
is Canadian subsidiary of Japan Tobacco International.
Rothmans
Benson and Hedges, based in Canada, is owned by Phillip Morris International.
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