The Ontario provincial government has filed a $50-billion lawsuit against a group of tobacco companies to seek compensation for what it says are past and future costs associated with tobacco uses.

"This represents the health care costs borne by Ontario taxpayers since 1955," the ministry of the attorney general said Tuesday in a news release that explained where the $50 billion figure came from.

The government set the stage for this lawsuit with legislation introduced in March. According to a government news release, the legislation allows Ontario to:

• directly sue tobacco companies for alleged wrongdoing
• allow for the recovery of past, present and ongoing tobacco-related damages
• creates a method to determine health-care cost damages caused by tobacco-related illnesses and borne by the province
• allocates tobacco-company liability by market share

The legislation only establishes the process. "The government still has to prove its allegations in a court of law," it said.

Tobacco companies will have from 20 to 60 days to file their intent to defend, depending on where they are incorporated.

Eric Gagnon, the director of external communications for Imperial Tobacco, told News Channel the lawsuit is "pure hypocrisy by the government of Ontario, who has been the partner of tobacco companies for more than 50 years."

The government collects taxes off the industry, which produces a legal product, while doing nothing about the illegal trade, he claimed.

Addressing reporters, Attorney General Chris Bentley said, "The amount paid out in health costs far exceeds the amount any government has collected for taxes." 

Gagnon said the industry will be defending itself in the lawsuit as it has in similar ones. He said the risks of smoking are known, and those adults who choose to use tobacco products do so knowing the facts.

Ontario is following in the footsteps of British Columbia and New Brunswick in suing to recover health costs from tobacco companies, said Attorney General Chris Bentley in the release. Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba also have similar laws in place.

The first such lawsuits were launched in the United States in the mid-1990s. The effort led to a 50-state agreement in 1999. The U.S. tobacco industry agreed to pay the states US$246 billion over a 25-year period for the health costs that resulted from people using their products.

Gagnon said the situation in the U.S. is completely different. The settlement there was paid for by raising the price on cigarettes, but that option in Canada isn't available, he said.

The province puts the annual cost of tobacco-related illnesses in Ontario at $1.6 billion.

"Smoking is the number one cause of premature death and illness in Ontario, accounting for the deaths of about 13,000 Ontarians each year. That's 36 deaths a day," it claimed.

With files from The Canadian Press