A historic deal that calls for three major tobacco companies to pay out billions in compensation to provinces and territories as well as former smokers across Canada has cleared its final legal hurdle in Ontario, bringing a decades-long court saga to a close.
Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz approved the $32.5-billion plan in a ruling released Thursday, hailing the milestone as a "momentous achievement in Canadian restructuring history."
The settlement was first proposed in October after years of mediation between the companies – JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. — and their creditors, which include plaintiffs in two Quebec class-action lawsuits as well as provincial and territorial governments seeking to recoup smoking-related health-care costs.