Ontario sues Tabacco companies

Ontario is suing the large Tabacco companies for $50 billion in order to recoup the cost of the health services provided as a direct result of people smoking tabacco. The Ontario government had changed the law in March in order to allow for this lawsuit to happen.

It is very harsh for the government to change the rules and then apply a penalty retroactively over the past 50 years. Imagine if the government starts taxing Carbon and then sues businesses for the cost of their carbon emissions over the past 50 years; people would rise up in arms.

The government is already taxing cigarettes above and beyond the typical provincial sales tax. This is presumably because they know that there are additional costs to society when people smoke. If the government believes that this tax is not sufficient to cover the costs that the government is forced to pay as a direct result of people smoking then they need to raise the tax. Perhaps the government is worried that with higher taxes people will no longer be able to afford cigarettes and quit, which will reduce their tax revenue (and their healthcare cost)?

There is no need for the government to sue an industry when they could simply tax that industry. Ontario should just set the tax on tabacco products to reflect what they feel it is costing society in terms of increased healthcare costs, loss of productivity and crime prevention.