EDMONTON – The Alberta government will not be releasing details about its controversial contract with a Calgary lawfirm to sue Big Tobacco for $10 billion.
Solicitor General Jonathan Denis told the legislature that publicizing details of the contingency agreement with International Tobacco Recovery Lawyers could harm their case by giving ammunition to the opponent.
The deal has come under fire in recent weeks because one of the firms is tied to Premier Alison Redford’s ex-husband and political adviser Robert Hawkes.
Documents released under freedom of information rules suggest Redford made the decision to hire Hawkes’s firm while she was serving as justice minister in 2010.
Redford, however, says the decision was not made until well after she left cabinet to run for premier in the summer of 2011.
The deal is on a contingency basis, and Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk says the province has struck the best deal for taxpayers among all the provinces suing Big Tobacco to recover the costs of treating smokers.
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