Canadian Province to Sue U.S. Companies

The Canadian province of Ontario plans to sue the U.S. tobacco industry and believes it can win as much as $40 billion in damages, officials said. Canada’s most populous province said it has retained U.S. legal counsel and will file a lawsuit that will allege, among others charges, that the industry violated laws against criminal conspiracies. The lawsuit would mark the first time a Canadian province files suit in the U.S. against the tobacco industry. British Columbia has filed a suit seeking damages from Canadian cigarette makers for smoking-related illnesses. The suit is modeled on cases filed by U.S. states that alleged an illegal industry conspiracy to target young smokers. Forty-six states recently settled with tobacco firms for $206 billion and limits on marketing.