As it turned out, there was only one session of the Montreal tobacco trials held this week.
Wednesday's session, which had been imposed by Justice Riordan as part of his fish-or-cut-bait deadline to Imperial Tobacco was mysteriously cancelled late Tuesday night, the day that company's lawyers had been told to inform the judge of their decision whether or not to call class members.
(For months, planning has been held hostage to this company's threat of a prolonged parade of a sampling of 60 smokers among of the million or so Quebecers who would be members of one of the two class actions)
I only learned when I entered the courtroom on Friday, the next scheduled day of hearings, that Justice Riordan had granted the company a three day extension to make up their minds.
I am glad for the delay, as it meant I was able to observe the reaction when Suzanne Côté rose to announce that Imperial Tobacco's decision in the end was to NOT ask for any witnesses to testify -- not even those two representative witnesses (Mme. Cécilia Létourneau and the family of Jean-Yves Blais) whose medical records could be made available for this purpose.
Those who held to the prevailing theory that this was a time-consuming bluff seemed to have had their view vindicated. The plaintiffs shook their heads, laughed and exchanged knowing looks. (There was even an obvious exchange of money, as unlikely as it seems that anyone bet the company would actually allow people suffering from emphyzema or lung cancer to appear before this compassionate judge.)
Justice Riordan braced his chin on his hands and stared steadily at Suzanne Côté. I would not have wanted to be on the other side of that look, but she seemed unfazed.
It did not even deter her from making requests for further time extensions when the discussion segued into the schedule for the final stages of the trial: the written and oral arguments.
She said the companies needed at least 4 weeks more to prepare their written "notes and authorities" than the plaintiffs were taking. She offered only two reasons for the extra time - the judges' desire for hyperlinks to relevant exhibits (no one else laughed!), and the lawyers' desire to have holidays in July.
Guy Pratte was lined up to give reasons for a further few weeks' delay. He wanted the trial to not sit during the weeks when he was in Europe and later preparing for Supreme Court hearings.
Justice Riordan did not look very sympathetic to any of this, but at the end of the day offered a calendar which responded to their demands. Even then, there was a reluctance to commit! (The schedule, when final, will be posted in a later blog).
More secrets!
More on the day, I cannot tell you. Not without breaching a court order, that is.
The president of JTI-Macdonald, Michel Poirier, testified as scheduled. The session was not held in camera, but a publication ban was put on the proceedings, and on any evidence that was presented.
This seemed odd, give that much of what was discussed has been covered by previous court rulings and that many of the documents covered by the ban were made public during the companies' bankruptcy protection proceedings.
As a result, only the lawyers in the room, together with Mr. Poirier's small entourage of (presumably) body guard and personal assistant and the small audience of regulars in the public gallery were able to watch Justice Riordan's evidently keen interest in this company's corporate practice.
Let's hope it will all come out in the wash!
Still to come
There are many elements yet to be tidied up --- JTI-Macdonald may call a few more witnesses in response to the testimony of Mr. Poirier. Imperial Tobacco has yet to file some exhibits. And the three companies have yet to declare their proof in defence closed. These events have yet to be scheduled.
The trial resumes ... but when?
This post has been back-dated to provide consistency in indexing
Showing posts with label Poirier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poirier. Show all posts
Friday, 23 May 2014
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Day 58: Japan Tobacco's Americas President
See note on accessing documents at the end of this post.
The 17th floor courtroom at Montreal's Palais de Justice was a little less crowded on the second (and last) day of testimony by Japan Tobacco International's Regional President for the Americas, Michel Poirier.
That is to say there were only a dozen or so sharp-suited JTI employees watching their man from the public area at the back of the room!
The defence team's charm offensive
In only the second day of JTI-Macdonald witnesses, the impact of changes at the front of the room are already beginning to be felt.
The lead counsel for JTI-Macdonald, Guy Pratte, has a markedly different style of play than the Imperial Tobacco lawyers who have occupied the front benches for the past six months.
For one thing, Mr. Pratt is very polite. Not polite in the benign Emily Post kind of way, but polite in the professional etiquette of a cold-war diplomat. In a courtroom where good manners have not yet been used much as a weapon, this is beginning to look like a sharp arrow in JTI's courtroom quiver.
One example: At the very beginning of the day, Mr. Pratte offered a humorous explanation of a few issues hanging over from the day before, with visible expressions of good will. He then smilingly followed up with a request for Justice Riordan to reconsider a decision that had not gone his client's way. Et voila! A question whose answer was unhelpful has now been put under reserve!
Extreme Advertising
Today's testimony began more or less where it had left off the day before - with the introduction of promotional material from JTI-Macdonald's Extreme Sports Series. (Exhibit 573 and 573a)
In adding details about the dates of the event, Mr. Pratte put his own spin on the ad. It was for an event in Ontario, he said, suggesting that despite being in French the billboard would not have appeared in Quebec where this trial is based.
The court room is full of lawyers who are veterans to the constitutional challenges on tobacco advertising bans. Justice Riordan may have been the only one in the room who did not know that JTI-Macdonald had gone to 'extreme' lengths to heavily promote otherwise minor local events, and that the ads had appeared in distant places and long after the events were over. The picture of this billboard is very likely from Montreal.
This sponsorship series was the basis for several questions over the day. Mr. Trudel was later able to elicit from Mr. Poirier that "some young people would be interested in motocross or motorbike" and "there is a possibility that these might be appealing to youth, yes."
Another document shown detailed plans for the development of a web-site to promote JTI-Macdonald's branded sponsorships. The profile of those it was intended to reach were described as "living for the day," "having a low attention span," and being of the "nintendo age."
Much more about the document I cannot tell you. Mr. Pratte objected to it because there was no proof that a web-site was ever developed. Again, Justice Riordan is one of the few in the room who was not aware that JTI-Macdonald ran two such sites -- extremesportsseries.ca and extrememusicseries.ca. As a result of Mr. Pratte's objection, the exhibit was put under reserve. (Exhibit 573 AR)
Despite various questions, JTI-Macdonald's president stood firm on the position he had taken yesterday that advertising would not lead young people to smoke, and that sponsorship advertising was even less likely to. He repeated that "advertising does not influence people to use a product category that is already well known... sponsorship even less so." As basis for this, he cited his 32 years' experience marketing consumer goods, but said he had no other research basis to support his conclusion.
Everybody knows ...
In 2000, Japan Tobacco went to court to try to block the federal government's new health warnings. Mr. Trudel used the affadavit signed by Mr. Poirier in that court action (Exhibit 575) as a spring-board for a number of questions about cigarette package warnings. He began by referring to the first warning that appeared in Canada (WARNING. Health Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked. Avoid inhaling.) and asked the witness whether the warning was sufficient.
For not the first time, Mr. Poirier deflected the issue to the federal government. All I can say is that we must put in context of society at the time. The deputy health minister thought it would be silly to put health risks on packages because everyone knew already that smoking was dangerous.
As he continued on this vein, Maurice Regnier (who represents the federal government) was on his feet objecting to the 'hearsay' evidence. Justice Riordan raised his eyebrows as he looked at the witness: The question was whether the warning was sufficient.
I don’t know, said Mr. Poirier.
Ethics vs. Activists: the Tobacco Experience
Another blast-from-his-past was offered to Mr. Poirier in the form of a speech he gave to the Canadian Club in 2002, shortly after becoming president of JTI-Macdonald. (Exhibit 576) The speech is a wideranging defence of the company and attack on public health regulations.
Tobacco control activists will tell you that higher taxes will reduce smoking. But when I look at the historical record in Canada, I see no evidence to support that assertion - and goodness knows we've had lots of tax increases on tobacco products in the past.
Did Mr. Poirier really think that taxes had no effect on consumption, Mr. Trudel wanted to know. The answer was clear. "I can tell you that higher taxes shows no impact on total consumption of cigarettes." Well, what about advertising? "I do not see an impact of marketing on total consumption" said the witness.
Mr. Trudel showed him that a contrary position had recently been taken by his head office. The 2012 annual report of Japan Tobacco says that in mature markets the industry volumes have been declining mainly due to a number of structural factors, such as demographic changes, tax increases, smoking ban and tightening regulations on promotions and advertisement. (Exhibit 577 - caution large file).
Mr. Poirier did not change his testismony. Other mature markets might be different, said Mr. Poirier, but in Canada neither advertising bans nor taxes could be credited with a fall in smoking rates. He did, however, acknowledge that smoking bans did.
The last inning - and blocked shots
By midday, Mr. Trudel had finished his questions, and after the lunch break his colleague Bruce Johnston took over.
The 17th floor courtroom at Montreal's Palais de Justice was a little less crowded on the second (and last) day of testimony by Japan Tobacco International's Regional President for the Americas, Michel Poirier.
That is to say there were only a dozen or so sharp-suited JTI employees watching their man from the public area at the back of the room!
The defence team's charm offensive
In only the second day of JTI-Macdonald witnesses, the impact of changes at the front of the room are already beginning to be felt.
 |
| Mr. Guy Pratte JTI-Macdonald Counsel |
For one thing, Mr. Pratt is very polite. Not polite in the benign Emily Post kind of way, but polite in the professional etiquette of a cold-war diplomat. In a courtroom where good manners have not yet been used much as a weapon, this is beginning to look like a sharp arrow in JTI's courtroom quiver.
One example: At the very beginning of the day, Mr. Pratte offered a humorous explanation of a few issues hanging over from the day before, with visible expressions of good will. He then smilingly followed up with a request for Justice Riordan to reconsider a decision that had not gone his client's way. Et voila! A question whose answer was unhelpful has now been put under reserve!
Extreme Advertising
Today's testimony began more or less where it had left off the day before - with the introduction of promotional material from JTI-Macdonald's Extreme Sports Series. (Exhibit 573 and 573a)
 |
| Ad for Export A Extreme Sports Exhibit 573A |
The court room is full of lawyers who are veterans to the constitutional challenges on tobacco advertising bans. Justice Riordan may have been the only one in the room who did not know that JTI-Macdonald had gone to 'extreme' lengths to heavily promote otherwise minor local events, and that the ads had appeared in distant places and long after the events were over. The picture of this billboard is very likely from Montreal.
This sponsorship series was the basis for several questions over the day. Mr. Trudel was later able to elicit from Mr. Poirier that "some young people would be interested in motocross or motorbike" and "there is a possibility that these might be appealing to youth, yes."
 |
| Bar promotion for extrememusicseries.ca |
Much more about the document I cannot tell you. Mr. Pratte objected to it because there was no proof that a web-site was ever developed. Again, Justice Riordan is one of the few in the room who was not aware that JTI-Macdonald ran two such sites -- extremesportsseries.ca and extrememusicseries.ca. As a result of Mr. Pratte's objection, the exhibit was put under reserve. (Exhibit 573 AR)
Despite various questions, JTI-Macdonald's president stood firm on the position he had taken yesterday that advertising would not lead young people to smoke, and that sponsorship advertising was even less likely to. He repeated that "advertising does not influence people to use a product category that is already well known... sponsorship even less so." As basis for this, he cited his 32 years' experience marketing consumer goods, but said he had no other research basis to support his conclusion.
Everybody knows ...
In 2000, Japan Tobacco went to court to try to block the federal government's new health warnings. Mr. Trudel used the affadavit signed by Mr. Poirier in that court action (Exhibit 575) as a spring-board for a number of questions about cigarette package warnings. He began by referring to the first warning that appeared in Canada (WARNING. Health Canada advises that danger to health increases with amount smoked. Avoid inhaling.) and asked the witness whether the warning was sufficient.
For not the first time, Mr. Poirier deflected the issue to the federal government. All I can say is that we must put in context of society at the time. The deputy health minister thought it would be silly to put health risks on packages because everyone knew already that smoking was dangerous.
As he continued on this vein, Maurice Regnier (who represents the federal government) was on his feet objecting to the 'hearsay' evidence. Justice Riordan raised his eyebrows as he looked at the witness: The question was whether the warning was sufficient.
I don’t know, said Mr. Poirier.
Ethics vs. Activists: the Tobacco Experience
Another blast-from-his-past was offered to Mr. Poirier in the form of a speech he gave to the Canadian Club in 2002, shortly after becoming president of JTI-Macdonald. (Exhibit 576) The speech is a wideranging defence of the company and attack on public health regulations.
Tobacco control activists will tell you that higher taxes will reduce smoking. But when I look at the historical record in Canada, I see no evidence to support that assertion - and goodness knows we've had lots of tax increases on tobacco products in the past.
Did Mr. Poirier really think that taxes had no effect on consumption, Mr. Trudel wanted to know. The answer was clear. "I can tell you that higher taxes shows no impact on total consumption of cigarettes." Well, what about advertising? "I do not see an impact of marketing on total consumption" said the witness.
Mr. Trudel showed him that a contrary position had recently been taken by his head office. The 2012 annual report of Japan Tobacco says that in mature markets the industry volumes have been declining mainly due to a number of structural factors, such as demographic changes, tax increases, smoking ban and tightening regulations on promotions and advertisement. (Exhibit 577 - caution large file).
Mr. Poirier did not change his testismony. Other mature markets might be different, said Mr. Poirier, but in Canada neither advertising bans nor taxes could be credited with a fall in smoking rates. He did, however, acknowledge that smoking bans did.
The last inning - and blocked shots
By midday, Mr. Trudel had finished his questions, and after the lunch break his colleague Bruce Johnston took over.
Justice Riordan often looks irritated during Mr. Johnston's clean-up round, and this was particularly the case today. He frequently pushed his chair back from the desk, rubbed his face, scowled or put his head in his hands - not very encouraging feedback for any lawyer standing only a few feet in front of him.
To access trial documents linked to this site:
The documents are on the web-site maintained by the Plaintiff's lawyers. To access them, it is necessary to gain entry to the web-site. Fortunately, this is easy to do.
Step 1: Click on: https://tobacco.asp.visard.ca
Step 2: Click on the blue bar on the splash-page "Acces direct a l'information/direct access to information" You will then be taken to the document data base.
Step 3: Return to this blog - and click on any links
Nonetheless, Mr. Johnston persevered. Before long he began to line up a shot against Mr. Poirier's statement that the company accepted that smoking was addictive in 1998 (when he joined). This assertion seemed inconsistent with the directions that were sent to Mr. Poirier in October of 1998 (Exhibit 569 and 569B) from its head office at RJR International. Among the material in this manual were the opening comments by Reynolds CEO, Jim Johnston, before the 1994 Waxman committee.
Mr. Johnston was heading to contrast Mr. Poirier's view against the more famous position of RJR ("Mr. Congressman, cigarettes and nicotine clearly do not meet the classic definition of addiction. There is no intoxication."), but he never got there.
Mr. Pratte intervened. Mr. Johnston interrupted. Justice Riordon snapped back.
Are you trying to rub the witnesses nose in it? Are you trying to wake up the judge? All you are doing is taking up a lot of time on questions like this. It was a tense moment.
A light assault on too smooth answers
Are you trying to rub the witnesses nose in it? Are you trying to wake up the judge? All you are doing is taking up a lot of time on questions like this. It was a tense moment.
A light assault on too smooth answers
The topic of light cigarettes surfaced again today, both in the examination by Bruce Johnston, in that of Maurice Regnier and that of Guy Pratte.
In answers to questions by Mr. Johnston, Mr. Poirier expressed an equivocal view of lower tar cigarettes. "There is a possibility that light and mild may actually be safer," he said, but that the company does "not communicate that to consumers."
He agreed with Mr. Johnston that it would "be wrong to tell smokers that any particular cigarette is safer than any other," and also wrong to allow smokers to make such an inference - even if such cigarettes actually were safer. Left hanging after these questions was his company's continued marketing of 'smooth' brands, which Mr. Poirier had yesterday testified as being essentially the same in meaning as 'light' or 'mild'.
Yesterday, Mr. Poirier had used the issue of light cigarettes to take a few swipes at the federal government. He had said (twice) that the federal government had research findings showing that consumers believed light/mild cigarettes were safer but that neither Health Canada nor the Competition Bureau had ever given the company copies of the research. He also complained that his request for a meeting with Minister Rock to discuss light cigarettes had gone unanswered.
Today, Maurice Regnier effectively removed these comments from the record. He showed Mr. Poirier a copy of a consumer study on light and mild cigarettes that had been faxed to JTI-Macdonald from Health Canada, and which remained in the company records that were exchanged prior to the trial. He asked Mr. Poirier to substantiate his claim that the Competition Bureau had been asked to provide research (over Mr. Pratte's objections, Justice Riordan directed this to be done). He asked the witness whether or not a meeting meeting had indeed been held amongst the industry, the Minister's staff and departmental officials.
Mr. Regnier could be forgiven for metaphorically dusting his hands off as he returned to his seat.
Mr. Regnier could be forgiven for metaphorically dusting his hands off as he returned to his seat.
Guy Pratte also turned to the issue of light and mild cigarettes, asking his client whether the Competition Bureau had ever found that light cigarettes were misleading (the answer was no), asking what the outcome of the Competition Bureau's review had been (a voluntary agreement, now Exhibit 40016).
Most curiously, Mr. Pratt asked whether any regulation or prohibition was ever made to ban words like light and mild. No, said Mr. Poirier. Yet a year ago, such regulations were published in the Canada Gazette and the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the regulation shows that consultation with the industry included at least three meetings since 2001. It also provides a summary of research findings. A different legal team handled those issues, perhaps.
Tomorrow, Mr. Ray Howie, a scientist with Macdonald/RJR-Macdonald/JTI-Macdonald is scheduled to appear.
The documents are on the web-site maintained by the Plaintiff's lawyers. To access them, it is necessary to gain entry to the web-site. Fortunately, this is easy to do.
Step 1: Click on: https://tobacco.asp.visard.ca
Step 2: Click on the blue bar on the splash-page "Acces direct a l'information/direct access to information" You will then be taken to the document data base.
Step 3: Return to this blog - and click on any links
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Day 57: Quebec's homegrown tobacco boss
See note on accessing documents at the end of this post.
The documents are on the web-site maintained by the Plaintiff's lawyers. To access them, it is necessary to gain entry to the web-site. Fortunately, this is easy to do.
Step 1: Click on: https://tobacco.asp.visard.ca
Step 2: Click on the blue bar on the splash-page "Acces direct a l'information/direct access to information" You will then be taken to the document data base.
Step 3: Return to this blog - and click on any links
A new chapter opened in the trial of the Montreal class action suits against Canada's big three tobacco companies on Tuesday, September 18th.
- He recounted his concerns before accepting a position at (then) RJR-Macdonald that the company's views were aligned with his belief that smokers should know the risks, but offered no support for the regulatory changes in risk communication since then.
- The JTI principle of transparency and openness with smokers has to be applied, he said, but then qualified that it was up to each market to determine what level of transparency was required and no further action was required in Canada.
- He acknowledged that cigarettes were addictive, but thought it would be a 'disservice' to smokers to tell them that some people can't quit. When people are motivated enough they can quit, he said.
To access trial documents linked to this site:
The plaintiffs have (mostly) ended their inquiries of witnesses from BAT's Canadian subsidiary, Imperial Tobacco. Today the focus shifted to JTI-Macdonald, the Canadian subsidiary of Japan Tobacco. They began at the top by calling as their first witness the president of the company, Mr. Michel Poirier.
Mr. Poirier is not only the head of the Canadian operations, he is also Regional President for the Americas Region for Japan Tobacco International. That is to say, he is a directing mind in the world's third largest tobacco multinational. (JTI-Macdonald is 100% owned by Japan Tobacco International which is 100% owned by Japan Tobacco, which has one principal shareholder - the Japanese government).
Mr. Poirier's testimony is thus an important moment in public health history as well as in this case, in that it allows the views and positions of a global player to be exposed, recorded and examined. The transcripts of his time on the witness stand today and tomorrow will warrant careful analysis -- sadly problems with amplification in the room today made it impossible to provide reliable quotes in this overnight report.
Hier, Montréal. Today, the world.
Although he now lives in Oakville, Mr. Poirier is a local boy. He studied science at Montreal's elite College Brébeuf CEGEP.
Yet despite his Montreal roots and French-language education, he elected to testify in English. Quebec courts are truly accommodating to the linguistic needs of foreign owners!
A bit of excitement
Six months in, the trial has lost much of its regular following, and on many days there are only three or four witnesses to the proceedings in the courtroom (two bloggers and a couple of insurance industry observers).
Today, however, there was a buzz in the air, a security detail in the hallway, a few dozen new faces in the room -- and television cameras waiting in the small designated camera spot near the elevators. It felt like the occasion it was.
 |
| Michel Poirier President, JTI-Macdonald |
The president and his sizeable entourage cut a good picture. Tall, smart-looking, well-dressed and with an air of importance, these (mostly) men looked like a short list from a casting call for Mad Men.
Mr. Poirier looks like he stepped out of the cover of a glossy business magazine. At 54 years of age, his hair is authoritatively grey where his face is bronzed and youthful. He may have learned a thing or two about looking good in the jobs he had before joining the tobacco business in 1998 -- working at Revlon, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, and Alberto-Culver.
And a mannerly start
Today's proceedings were among the most polite of the trial to date. This may reflect the start of a new chapter, or it may be the result of rotation of players. Now it is counsel for JTI-Macdonald, led by Guy Pratte, who occupy the front row and who lead the industry's defense.
Mr. Poirier also made an impression with the style of his answers. By the standards of this trial, he was direct, brief and clear in his answers. There was no apparent hiding behind jargon or weasel words. Both good and lame answers were given in the same deadpan delivery. This flat demeanor is not without tactical considerations: a business profile on Mr. Poirier quotes his belief that "visible reactions always make things worse."
Certainly it worked for him. Justice Riordan seemed both relaxed around and attentive to this witness, looking at him intensely and engaging more frequently in the exchanges. On a few occasions when Mr. Poirier attempted to provide an answer to a different question than the one he was asked, Justice Riordan intervened to clarify the question and press (successfully) for an answer.
Some important questions
Mr. Trudel took the witness through a quick tour of the key issues of the trial -- public communications on smoking and health issues, scientific research within the company, knowledge of health risks within the company, communication of risks to smokers, compensation and light cigarettes, addiction, marketing to youth, etc.
He began by introducing the current public position of Japan Tobacco on key issues, asking the witness to elaborate on the applicability of those positions to JTI-Macdonald in the current conetxt. (Smoking and Health - Exhibit 565; Reduced risk - Exhibit 560, Code of Conduct - Exhibit 561 and emloyee Code of Conduct Exhibit 566; Pack values for tar and nicotine - Exhibit 562, Health effects of active smoking - Exhibit 564; Addiction - Exhibit 567 and 568)
Mr. Poirier explained that JTI-Macdonald's R&D activities were focused on product development, and that research related to health issues was conducted in Japan, while the application of some of that research to product issues was done in Geneva. The research is more focused on how we come up with a safer cigarette, he explained, but although the company is coming up with products that could be alternatives, the problem is they are not accepted by consumers.
He described the development of a less harmful but popular cigarette as the "holy grail" of the industry, but offered little appetite for a crusade. His company had not introduced snus in Canada, for example, because there is not sufficient demand.
This pattern of answers was repeated throughout the day: 'on the one hand we say we are doing the right thing (i.e. developing safer cigarettes), but on the other hand we have found reasons to not actually do them (i.e. we aren't selling any, and it is the fault of other actors).'
Mr. Poirier conceded that the company had not likely ever contributed knowledge of a new harmful component of cigarette smoke through research, but did not seem troubled about it. The harmfulness of smoking is well known he said, citing his own view as a five year old that every cigarette is a nail in your coffin.
Philip Trudelle tried to elicit a distinction between knowledge that there were risks involved in smoking and knowledge of the specifics risks, such as likelihood of getting sick or dying from smoking. Despite repeated questions, Mr. Poirier would not be drawn into exposing any awareness of specific risks (of disease, death or addiction).
Many of his answers were at the very least ambivalent:
- He said that the harmfulness of cigarette smoking was well known, yet could not identify many diseases himself, nor quantify the risk of disease nor the magnitude of harm.
- He said it was important that consumers understand the consequences of smoking, but that giving them detailed information on the risks of smoking would "dilute" the overall message that smoking can kill you.
- He recounted his concerns before accepting a position at (then) RJR-Macdonald that the company's views were aligned with his belief that smokers should know the risks, but offered no support for the regulatory changes in risk communication since then.
- The JTI principle of transparency and openness with smokers has to be applied, he said, but then qualified that it was up to each market to determine what level of transparency was required and no further action was required in Canada.
- He acknowledged that cigarettes were addictive, but thought it would be a 'disservice' to smokers to tell them that some people can't quit. When people are motivated enough they can quit, he said.
No voluntary measures
Mr. Trudelle showed the witness an exchange of letters between him and former health minister, Allan Rock. The minister of health had asked the companies to stop using terms like "light" on their cigarettes (Exhibit 563). In Mr. Poirier's response he had agreed to merits of providing more information to consumers about light cigarettes being no less harmful (Exhibit 563A), the company had taken no voluntary measures.
Today Mr. Poirier did not accept that 'light' cigarettes are considered by smokers to be safer. He had no research of his own to support this position, and blamed the government of Canada for not having made its research available during the (closed-door) negotiations with the Competition Bureau that led to an agreement with the company to end the use of some descriptors.
Mr. Trudel asked him about a position of JTI-Macdonald represented in their challenge to health warnings (available on Legacy), which was likely made while Mr. Poirier was heading the company. The origin of this document are still a little murky, but in it JTI-Macdonald is cited as saying if it identifies some component of tobacco or cigarettes as harmful, then we will immediately remove that component. After being prompted by Justice Riordan to answer whether this was the position of the company in 2001, Mr. Poirier qualified the commitment. I think we would say that if it possible to remove it and if the product is still acceptable to consumers, we would remove it
In an even more stark contrast between testimony today and documentary records, Mr. Poirier affirmed that in 2001 the addictiveness of smoking was well accepted (he hastened to add in the modern meaning of the word). Yet in these contemporaneous court filings, the company had said There is no scientific agreement on a definition as to what degree of use constitutes addiction, nor on what addiction is .
Advertising
 |
| Ad for Export A Extreme Sports Series circa 2001 |
Towards the end of this first day, Mr. Trudel introduced the company's policies and activities on advertising. Among the exhibits introduced were those tracing the development of the sponsorship promotions for Quebec during Mr. Poirier's early years at JTI-Macdonald. (Exhibits 571, A, B, C, D, E)
Mr. Poirier denied that advertising could recruit youth to smoking. My experience in over 30 years is that people do not adopt a product category they already know exists by advertising. Sponsorship advertising is even more remote, he said, as it doesn't talk about the product.
He did concede that motocross was something that would likely appeal to those under 18 years of age.
Mr. Poirier returns tomorrow for his second and likely last day of testimony at this trial.
The documents are on the web-site maintained by the Plaintiff's lawyers. To access them, it is necessary to gain entry to the web-site. Fortunately, this is easy to do.
Step 1: Click on: https://tobacco.asp.visard.ca
Step 2: Click on the blue bar on the splash-page "Acces direct a l'information/direct access to information" You will then be taken to the document data base.
Step 3: Return to this blog - and click on any links
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