Premier Kathleen Wynne serves PC leader with libel notice

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Premier Kathleen Wynne serves PC leader with libel notice
Patrick Brown had suggested Wynne would stand trial in Sudbury byelection scandal
CBC News Posted: Oct 20, 2017 1:04 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 20, 2017 4:42 PM ET

Lawyers for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have issued notice of a libel suit against PC Leader Patrick Brown over comments he made suggesting she was on trial. (Canadian Press)

Lawyers for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne have issued notice of a libel suit against PC Leader Patrick Brown over comments he made suggesting she was on trial.

Brown was speaking to reporters at Queen's Park about the Sudbury byelection bribery scandal last month and said that Wynne may only provide answers "when she stands trial."

Within a few days, Wynne's lawyers called on him to apologize and retract the statement, but Brown declined.

"You have refused to retract or apologize for those defamatory statements, and have made further defamatory statements about Premier Wynne," said the letter to Brown from lawyer Jack Siegel.

"Accordingly, a legal action will now be commenced against you for defamation," said Siegel in the letter.

The letter is dated Thursday and was provided to the news media on Friday by Wynne's press secretary.

Brown, who was a lawyer before entering politics, made the original comments on Sept. 12, the day before Wynne testified in the bribery trial of two senior Liberals. He was responding to a question from CBC Queen's Park reporter Mike Crawley during a scrum at the Ontario Legislature.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was called by the Crown as a witness in the trial of bribery allegations during the 2015 Sudbury byelection. (Yvon Theriault/Radio-Canada/CBC)

"The fact that the police have been brought in just shows how serious it is," said Brown at the time.

"So I hope that the premier will give us answers. We're not getting them in the legislature, maybe when she stands trial. That in itself is astonishing, that we've got a sitting premier sitting in trial and answering questions about these allegations of bribery."

Provincial law required Wynne's lawyers to issue a libel notice within six weeks of the comments, making the deadline next Tuesday.

"The express meaning of these statements is that Premier Wynne was on trial for bribery, which was not the case," said the letter. "Your stubborn refusal to retract your defamatory statements has exposed you to an award of aggravated and punitive damages."

The lawyer warns Brown to preserve all relevant documents related to the accusations in the case, including emails and recordings.

Brown calls legal threat 'baseless'
In a statement Friday afternoon, Brown dismissed the libel notice as an attempt by the Wynne government to distract attention from bad news this week, such as a critical auditor general's report about its hydro rate cuts.

"The premier needs to apologize to Ontarians for years of waste, mismanagement and political corruption in this province," the statment read. Brown also said the "baseless legal threats against me ... will be ignored."

Sending a notice of libel is a step required by Ontario's Libel and Slander Act before actually filing a defamation suit.

Wynne testified last month in Sudbury at the bribery trial of her former deputy chief of staff Pat Sorbara and local Liberal organizer Gerry Lougheed Jr.

Lawyers for Sorbara and Lougheed have asked the judge to toss out the charges, arguing that the Crown has failed to prove its case. A ruling is expected on Tuesday.

In 2014, just before the last provincial election, Wynne sued then-PC leader Tim Hudak and MPP Lisa MacLeod over comments alleging that she had overseen "and possibly ordered" the criminal destruction of documents. The suit was dropped in 2015.

 

[ottawa_tj]

这诉讼费是自由党支部出，还是省政府出？

 

[我来说两句]

这诉讼费是自由党支部出，还是省政府出？

这个Notice是从 Wynne government 发出来的，应该是省政府出费用，但好在她的律师应该是专用的，花费应该已经是工资的一部分了吧

 

[我来说两句]

趁机学学法，文中提到下周二是六周期限，过期就无效了，所以，省长没忘记让律师及早发出Notice，下面第一条：

Ontario’s Libel and Slander Act contains certain notice and claim requirements and deadlines which, if not followed, will act as a bar against any potential action for defamation. In particular:

• Section 5(1) provides that no action for libel in a “newspaper” or in a “broadcast” lies unless a plaintiff, within six weeks after the alleged libel has come to the plaintiff’s knowledge, gives written notice to the defendant.
• Section 6, for its part, states that an action for a libel in a “newspaper” or in a “broadcast” must be commenced within three months after the libel has come to the knowledge of the person defamed.

拜托别把这个楼也变成打架楼

 

[ottawa_tj]

趁机学学法，文中提到下周二是六周期限，过期就无效了，所以，省长没忘记让律师及早发出Notice，下面第一条：

Ontario’s Libel and Slander Act contains certain notice and claim requirements and deadlines which, if not followed, will act as a bar against any potential action for defamation. In particular:

• Section 5(1) provides that no action for libel in a “newspaper” or in a “broadcast” lies unless a plaintiff, within six weeks after the alleged libel has come to the plaintiff’s knowledge, gives written notice to the defendant.
• Section 6, for its part, states that an action for a libel in a “newspaper” or in a “broadcast” must be commenced within three months after the libel has come to the knowledge of the person defamed.

拜托别把这个楼也变成打架楼

莫担心，如果村长不把中文翻译好贴上来，这里的人没几个能看得懂的。

 

[ccc]

下次省选还指望 Patrick Brown呢。

 

[我来说两句]

下次省选还指望 Patrick Brown呢。

文中说Brown是律师出身，对于这个Notice采取忽略态度，应该没大碍吧

 

[yy123456]

Kathleen Wynne 无论如何应该下台了，明年选举时，一定去投票。

 

[金陵]

下届省选，只要Patrick Brown不要关键时刻掉链子就会赢。