Tobacco companies set to pay $32.5-billion in landmark Canadian legal settlement

Three large tobacco companies are set to pay $32.5-billion to settle legal claims, including a landmark 2015 Quebec court judgment that concluded the companies did not warn their customers about the dangers of using their products.Ten provinces and three territories, which had sought to recoup health care costs, would receive $24.8-billion from JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc., and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. in a proposed plan of arrangement overseen by a mediator filed late Thursday in an Ontario court.Members of two class-action lawsuits in Quebec would receive $4.25-billion. This includes about 100,000 people in what came to be known as the Blais-Létourneau case that won in court in 2015, and was upheld on appeal in 2019. Individuals may receive as much as $60,000. Other Canadians, separate from the main case, would also receive some money.