Premier Kathleen Wynne is suing Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown for libel and seeking $100,000 in damages from her main political rival.
Wynne’s legal team
filed a statement of claim in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday — less than six months before the June 7 election.
The premier is seeking $50,000 in damages for defamation and $50,000 in aggravated, exemplary and punitive damages.
She also
wants a retraction and for the Tory leader to cover her legal costs.
The lawsuit was
sparked by a Sept. 12 media scrum at Queen’s Park, where Brown told reporters Ontario had “a sitting premier sitting in trial” and that Wynne “stands trial” in Sudbury.
Wynne’s lawyers say that was “false and defamatory” and because the premier “was not on trial for bribery and has not been investigated by the police.”
The Tory leader’s comment came the day before the premier testified as a Crown witness in the
trial of Patricia
Sorbara, her former deputy chief of staff, and Sudbury Liberal activist Gerry Lougheed.
Sorbara and Lougheed were
acquitted in October after Judge Howard Borenstein dismissed the Election Act case against them for lack of evidence.
It was a rare directed verdict, delivered before any defence witnesses were called.
While Brown was not available for comment, his office said it was “disappointing” Wynne alerted the media before telling the Tories about the lawsuit.
“Mr. Brown has not been served with or seen the statement of claim. This is yet another effort to distract attention from her government’s record,” said Brown’s press secretary, Nick Bergamini.
“It’s no coincidence that this baseless suit comes the same day the PCs called for an OPP investigation into ineligible expenses claimed by insider energy executives,” Bergamini said.
The action comes as the Tories are themselves under police investigation for allegations of criminal fraud and forgery at a Hamilton candidate election.
Two Star reporters and a columnist were in Brown’s Sept. 12 press scrum along with journalists from CBC, Radio-Canada, The Canadian Press, the Globe and Mail, QP Briefing, Global, CP24, CTV, TFO, Queen’s Park Today, Fairchild, CHCH, and Newstalk 1010.
Prior to the 2014 election, Wynne launched a $2-million libel action against the Tories’ then-leader, Tim Hudak, and MPP Lisa MacLeod (Nepean-Carleton) over their comments about her alleged role in former premier Dalton McGuinty’s cancellation of gas-fired power plants in Oakville and Mississauga. That matter was settled out of court in 2015.
The legal bills for both Wynne and Brown are being covered by their respective political parties.
“There is a principle in Canada that you do not make defamatory, misleading comments about another political leader,” Matthews said in October.
“In Canada, we actually expect people to be honest. There is, south of the border, a change in that culture. I do not want to see that change coming to Canada.”
Wynne herself was tightlipped about the suit Monday.
“You know what, it’s in the hands of the lawyers and as the process unfolds it will be made public but the lawyers are engaged,” she told reporters at Toronto’s Santa Maria Catholic School.
Her director of media relations Jennifer Beaudry said the ball is in Brown’s court.
“We continue to remain hopeful that this issue can be resolved with an apology from Patrick Brown for his defamatory remarks,” said Beaudry.
“It should be that simple. However, if he continues to refuse to apologize we will have the ability to continue legal action.”
This is what you people are paying for - the ability of your 'leaders' to continue legal action against any other 'leader' that gets in their way.
