In a decision that could lead to cigarette-makers coughing up billions of dollars to pay for sick smokers' health care, the country's top court has ruled that British Columbia can sue the industry.
My understanding of it is that the money goes to the government to offset the costs of treating, not to individuals.

Also, since its the government going after the tobaccos companies, I don't think that class action lawsuits would be involved? The article does say that it could be as much as a decade before anything is seen from this, but settlement would likely be in the billions. It also references a similar settlement that already happened in the states for $245 billion.

I'd be interested to see just how much money is brought in by the taxes on cigarettes and how much of that actually goes to the treating of cigarette related disease.