The lawsuit seeks damages "for past and ongoing healthcare costs linked to tobacco-related illness," said a media release from the Ontario government.
Under the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which passed the provincial legislature this year, Ontario can file suits against companies seeking the recovery of tobacco-related damages. Although the new law allows government to move forward with the process, it is still required to prove its allegations in court. British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba have also enacted tobacco-cost recovery laws.
What a novel idea! Holding corporations responsible for the social and health related problems their products cause! i can already hear the chorus of conservative and market-fundamentalists crying out against what they perceive to be the excesses of “socialist” or “communist” policy.
But in reality what we are seeing in this case is responsible government actualized. Isn’t it the government’s function to promote health in its communities? Isn’t it a government’s function to regulate private interests which seek to gain at the expense of a large number of people in a population? Indeed.But, of course, conservatives and corporate zealots alike don’t really want a functioning government that works for public interest – they want a quasi-functioning façade government that acts as a proxy for elite power plays and private capital gains. For many elites, government is merely an arena in which to wage a series of strategic wars against institutions and policies that would limit their personal access to wealth and power.
Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal majority government should be widely praised for at least making the attempt to be a legitimate governing body.
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