Happy World No Tobacco week, Speaker.

My question is for the Premier. Tobacco is the leading cause of disease and death in Ontario. Tobacco is responsible for the deaths of 16,000 Ontarians every year and costs our health care system $2.2 billion. The tobacco industry has caused this epidemic. The time has come for big tobacco to pay for the harm that they have inflicted.

All provinces, including Ontario, are presently in settlement negotiations with three major tobacco companies, but health care organizations with us today, including Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke, and the Lung Association have not been consulted at all. They are appealing to the government to adopt the reasonable measures included in their open letter to the Premier as part of a potential settlement.

Will the government guarantee that public health measures will be included in any agreement?