But the cigarette makers aren’t about to pull out their chequebooks just yet
The Quebec government shells out upwards of $1 billion to care for those who suffer from their addiction to tobacco, and its health minister no longer wants to pay. Yves Bolduc, himself a doctor, is launching a lawsuit to recoup these costs from the likes of Imperial Tobacco et al.–making Quebec the ninth province to go after Big Tobacco. Big Tobacco, meanwhile, is nonplussed, suggesting that Bolduc instead go after black market cigarettes, which cost his government millions in lost tax revenues every year.