"Progress continues to be made"
Eye on the Trails
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3d ago
This morning permission was granted to extend insolvency protection to tobacco multinationals into a sixth year.  Little information on the details of the settlement under discussion among the companies and the governments and smokers who are suing them was provided during the half hour hearing before Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morowetz. In quick succession, lawyers for Imperial Tobacco (British American Tobacco), Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (Philip Morris International) and JTI-Macdonald (Japan Tobacco) stood to affirm that the companies were acting "in good faith ..read more
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Ontario's chief justice forces a change on settlement discussions
Eye on the Trails
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6M ago
Those who tuned in at 10:30 Wednesday morning to the video-link of the Ontario Superior Court session before Justice Geoffrey B. Morawetz expecting to see another rubber stamping process in the tobacco companies' CCAA proceedings were in for a big surprise.  This was Justice Morawetz' first appearance on these proceedings, and he used the opportunity to force a new process on the proceedings. As well as granting the tobacco companies' unopposed request for another 6 month extension to their litigation, he is imposing an arbitration-like process to develop a road-map out. The 'neutral' mo ..read more
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Why is the CCAA process dragging on? Fingers are pointed at provincial governments
Eye on the Trails
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6M ago
When the parties to the long-going insolvency proceedings for Canada's tobacco companies convene on September 27th , a new judge will be deciding whether to allow yet another 6-month time out on the lawsuits facing Canada's tobacco companies. Ontario's chief justice, the Hon. Geoffrey B. Morawetz  assumed responsibility for this file after Justice Thomas McEwen retired this summer. Already some of the paperwork has been filed in advance of this hearing by the three tobacco companies and also by lawyers for Quebec smokers whose court award of $13+ billion has lain in limbo since these ..read more
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Heart and Stroke Foundation loses its bid to be included in the Insolvency Mediation
Eye on the Trails
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9M ago
After a loooong wait, Justice McEwen issued his ruling yesterday on the request by Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation to be allowed to ask for a seat at the mediation table. Last fall they initiated a request to appoint a representative for the "Future Tobacco Harm Stakeholders" -- Canadian smokers not otherwise represented in the settlement discussions.  His answer was a firm "no". No matter the merits of the organization, their request came too late. They did not act with "due diligence in the circumstances" and waited too long to make this request. Nor has anything changed to justify ..read more
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A new judge appointed to oversee the CCAA proceedings
Eye on the Trails
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11M ago
Yesterday Justice McEwen made public that he will be retiring at the end of June and that "Chief Justice Morawetz has agreed to assume case management of these CCAA matters ..read more
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Mediation to settle lawsuits with big tobacco is extended to 42 months
Eye on the Trails
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1y ago
This post is an update of a near-identical bulletin sent a year ago. Little has changed. Today Justice McEwan of Ontario's Superior Court was asked for the eighth time to extend the insolvency protection orders under which Canada's 3 main tobacco companies are maintaining "business as usual" while trying to negotiate an end to the lawsuits filed against them. None of the lawyers representing the provinces and smokers who are suing the companies raised any objections, and after a 15-minute hearing the extensions were granted.  In most respects, there appear to be no new developments ..read more
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Tobacco companies are asking for another 6 months' insolvency protection
Eye on the Trails
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1y ago
In only 9 days (September 30) the current time-out ("stay") on lawsuits against Canada's 3 large tobacco companies will expire. In only 6 days (September 27th) the Ontario court which is charged with setting the terms (if any) of their insolvency protection will convene to hear a request for another 6 month extention. Court rules require the documents for this hearing to be made public. Those available to date are linked below: Companies' motions for extension JTI Macdonald Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Imperial Tobacco Monitor's Reports: Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Imperial Tobacco JTI M ..read more
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Heart & Stroke's request to join tobacco negotiations meets resistance
Eye on the Trails
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1y ago
On Friday April 14th, parties to the insolvency protection of Canada's tobacco companies were again virtually convened before Justice Thomas McEwen of the Ontario Superior Court. The sole purpose of this hearing was to allow lawyers from Tyr LLP (lawyers working for the Heart & Stroke Foundation) to say why they should be allowed to ask for a seat at the negotiating table. More than 6 months have elapsed since this large Canadian health charity first made official its desire to see "future tobacco harm stakeholders" represented in these proceedings by their choice of counsel. Their objecti ..read more
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The farmers want special standing in the CCAA process
Eye on the Trails
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1y ago
At the time of the last post, it seemed like the sixth extension of the court-ordered insolvency protection for Canada's tobacco companies would go without a hitch. The hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30 (viewable on YOUTUBE here!), a mere 24 hours before the current order expires. Over the weekend  a new motion appeared on one of the Monitors' sites. Ontario's tobacco farmers have now signalled they will ask the court to etablish that their claims against the companies are of a different nature than those of the provinces and injured smokers, and that the settlement of ..read more
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Another milestone: The 10th Extension of CCAA protection for Canada's tobacco companies
Eye on the Trails
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1y ago
Another virtual hearing before Justice Thomas McEwen of the Ontario Supreme Court took place this morning to decide how long the suspension of lawsuits against Canada's tobacco companies would be extended. The hearing ended without an immediate decision - but perhaps shed some light on a process that has been obscured from public gaze for most of the past 4 years. The background All lawsuits against the three major tobacco companies have been suspended since March 2019. This Ontario court order was the result of the companies asking for and receiving protection under the federal insolvency law ..read more
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