Imperial Tobacco Case Summary

Imperial Tobacco V B.C
Sources:
http://scc.lexum.org/decisia-scc-csc/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/7957/index.do

http://cases.slaw.ca/post/9016675116/british-columbia-v-imperial-tobacco-canada-ltd-et-al

Facts:
-The British Columbia Government sued the Imperial Tobacco company.
-The reason they sued was because the British Columbia government wanted the Imperial Tobacco company to pay for all the medical treatment for individuals that become ill because of smoking.
-The B.C government also wanted to sue Imperial Tobacco for having no product liability.
-Product liability is when a company must label all of the positives and negatives of the product.
-Tobacco companies didn't put on their products that they will give you cancer or any
Meaning that the light and mild cigarettes were no different than the regular cigarettes.
-Tobacco companies want to find contribution and damages from Canada.
-The Tobacco company issued third-party notices to the Government of Canada alleging that if they were held liable they were entitled to compensation from the government for false misrepresentation, false design and failure to warn, as well as equity.
-The B.C government wants every province to be able to sue tobacco companies to up to $10 billion for health
I believe this because customers that smoked cigarettes but didn't know that it caused cancer should be compensated for all damages that has developed. And with anyone that 2nd hand smoked the product before product liability was put into action. (Although it might a bit harder to prove that). But anyone that develops cancer after Imperial tobacco put the product liability on their products should not be compensated. Imperial tobacco should pay for all the cigarette related medical care of the customers no matter what the damage is. Whether it be a new pair of teeth or a new lung.

2)Depending on the situation, do you think that $10 billion is too much? If so, what do you think is a reasonable amount to sue for?

I think that $10 billion is too much money for anything. That's the equivalent of giving $1.43 to every person in the world. Even if the customer got cancer, $10 billion is too much to ask of anyone. A reasonable sum of money in my eyes would be, all health care payments, everything the customer bought to help with their disease, and a little bit of extra money if the judge approves. (Up to a maximum of $100,000)

3)What other large corporate companies would be sued for product liability if it wasn't in action? (Any