COBOURG, ON – Rights 4 Vapers (R4V), Canada’s leading consumer movement for safer nicotine products, is raising urgent concerns about Bill 24, Vaping Product Damages and Health-Care Costs Recovery Act, legislation that gives the Province of British Columbia sweeping, undefined power to sue anyone connected to vaping products.

Despite offering zero proof that regulated vaping products have caused the harms the bill implies, the government is pushing Bill 24 forward under the guise of “cost recovery.” Yet all available evidence, including Health Canada’s own statements, shows the opposite: vaping is a reduced-risk alternative for people who smoke, not a driver of health-care costs, but a tool to reduce tobacco-related health care cost burdens.

Under the broad language in Bill 24, B.C. could sue retailers, manufacturers, importers, distributors, tech platforms, couriers, nonprofits, consumer groups, and even launch lawsuits on behalf of every province, territory, and the federal government. With no clarity on who can be targeted or what little evidence is required, the legislation threatens every participant in Canada’s legal, regulated vaping industry.

“This legislation doesn’t protect public health; it creates fear and uncertainty,” said Maria Papaioannoy, spokesperson for R4V. “There is no evidence that regulated vaping products are causing the harms the government claims, it’s just the opposite. Vaping helps people quit smoking. Consumers deserve access to regulated products, not a system that drives businesses out, fuels the black market, and undermines the harm-reduction strategy Health Canada promotes.”

The bill even raises the alarming possibility that B.C. could sue Health Canada, the very regulator that has repeatedly stated that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking and an important tool for helping people quit. Bill 24 also ignores Canada’s existing national framework, already one of the strictest in the world, which mandates ingredient disclosure, nicotine limits, child resistant containers GMP standards, age verification, marketing standards and continuous inspections

“If the goal is to go after the bad actors, our questions to Ms. Sharma are: how do you pick the bad actors, in a provincially and federally regulated market? Have you found a way to sue the illicit market? Because if true, you should share that knowledge with the world.” – Papaioannoy asks.

History shows that fear-based, heavy-handed policies push people toward unregulated, unsafe products. British Columbians deserve to know whether Bill 24 genuinely protects public health or simply accelerates illicit-market activity while punishing those who comply with the law.

Rights 4 Vapers is calling on Attorney General Niki Sharma to provide:

• A detailed list of who can be sued under Bill 24
• The scientific methodology B.C. will use to “predict” health-care costs
• An explanation of how this bill aligns, or conflicts, with Health Canada’s regulatory framework
• A public impact assessment on small businesses, consumers, and illicit-market growth

Until these questions are answered, Bill 24 remains a dangerous, open-ended litigation scheme, and any MLA who believes in transparency, fairness, and accountable government should vote against it.