Money the province is set to receive from a settlement with tobacco companies will go toward the development of a new CancerCare Manitoba headquarters along with other prevention measures, Premier Wab Kinew announced Saturday. Money the province is getting from a settlement with tobacco companies will go toward building a new CancerCare Manitoba headquarters and other prevention measures, Premier Wab Kinew announced Saturday.
"Those are details that will come out when the settlement gets concluded, that's with the federal government right now," said Kinew.The cases were stalled by a range of court battles, but in March 2019 a group of people in Quebec received $13.5 billion in damages in a class-action lawsuit against the companies. This forced the companies to seek creditor protection, putting a freeze on all other lawsuits against them.
Kinew said the government would've found a way to pay for its CancerCare promise, but the settlement allows the NDP to make "forward-thinking decisions" with organizations in the sector. One emergency resolution, slated for debate Sunday, asks the government to develop legislation that would prevent the rich and powerful from using lawsuits to silence their critics. It's commonly referred to as anti-SLAPP legislation — short for "strategic lawsuits against public participation."
In 2023, the Manitoba Liberals introduced a private member's bill to implement anti-SLAPP legislation. The bill didn't pass before the election.