The Alberta government could receive billions of dollars in health-care cost recovery from the tobacco industry in a proposed deal, but critics say it's not enough to address the problem of smoking.Alberta could get more than $3 billion in a proposed payout from three major tobacco companies as part of a years-long legal battle. The potential settlement may see JTI-Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd.
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office said tobacco use has had a significant impact on the quality of life of Albertans, and places a considerable burden on the province's health-care system. "But when you look at the number of Canadians who smoked, the injuries to them, their health-care costs, it probably is quite modest when you account for all of that," she said.
In the United States — the only other place where there have been significant settlements — governments that received settlement money didn't always use it to address health-care problems created by smoking, Hardcastle said.