ONTARIO'S TOBACCO SUIT STALLED IN U.S.

Ontario's elaborate plan to sue large American tobacco companies has
been stalled in the courts before it even got off the ground.

The province first announced last April that it would be seeking as
much as $59 billion in damages from U.S. tobacco companies to recover
the health-related costs of smoking.

The suit is supposed to take advantage of the American Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which allows governments to
go after companies or individuals who have been proven to knowingly
cheat or harm others.

The province's position is that tobacco companies conspired to make
their product more addictive by adding excess nicotine.

But a separate U.S. court case involving the government of Guatemala
is challenging the same legal avenue that Ontario planned to take.

``Right now the whole issue of a foreign government using the American
statute is being challenged so we are awaiting the outcome of that
decision before we go further at this point in time,'' Health Minister
Elizabeth Witmer said yesterday.

Witmer said the province has already hired a U.S. law firm to liaise
with her ministry, but until a decision is rendered on the other case,
the suit cannot go forward.

She did not know how long the delay might take.

The province essentially plans to go after the manufacturers for the
amount of money it has spent since Ontario began tracking
smoking-related health-care costs in the early 1970s.