Imperial Tobacco Canada - slow illegal cigarettes/sue tobacco companies..

March 25, 2009 - Ontario's Attorney General Chris Bentley has introduced new legislation that, if passed, could allow the provincial government to seek billions of dollars in damages from the three big Canadian cigarette manufacturers: Imperial Tobacco; Rothmans, Benson and Hedges; and JTI-Macdonald. Imperial Tobacco Canada stated today, (March 24, 2009) that Ontario's lawmakers should take a stand against
illegal tobacco in Ontario rather than legislation such as the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act.

In 2008, the Canadian federal and provincial governments together lost
approximately $2.4 billion in taxes and that number is growing as the sale of
illegal cigarettes grows. The federal government's share was $1.1 billion. In
December, the Ontario Auditor General reported that the estimated tax loss for
Ontario in 2006-2007 was $500 million.

Imperial Tobacco Canada believes that if Ontario moves forward with a lawsuit, it will take years to resolve and will cost Ontario taxpayers millions of dollars. A similar action in British Columbia has cost BC tens of millions of dollars and it is still not over.

Reference: Ontario's Healthcare Cost Recovery Act Misses the Mark, Benjamin Kemball, president and CEO of Imperial Tobacco Canada, CNW Telbec, 3/24/2009.

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