Ontario Judge Begins Hearing Arguments Over Landmark $32.5-Billion Tobacco Settlement

Ontario Judge Begins Hearing Arguments Over Landmark $32.5-Billion Tobacco Settlement
A smoker puts out a cigarette in a public ashtray in Ottawa, on May 31, 2016. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
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An Ontario judge has begun hearing arguments about whether to approve a landmark $32.5-billion settlement that would see three major tobacco companies compensate provinces, territories and ex-smokers.

The settlement between the companies—JTI-Macdonald Corp., Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., and Rothmans, Benson & Hedges—and their creditors received unanimous support from those creditors in a vote held in mid-December.