2007 December 20

Rozario v Souza, 2007 BCSC 1850

The British Columbia Supreme Court dismissed a defamation action following a summary trial concerning newsletters published on the Internet from April until November 2006 which the plaintiff complained alleged that he was a “troublemaker”. Although the Court that meaning was defamatory, and rejected a pleaded defence of truth (“justification”), it held that the publications were protected by the defence of fair comment. In this regard, the Court stated: “Notwithstanding that the statements are defamatory, in the sense that they might tend to reduce [the plaintiff’s] reputation in the community, the statements that he is a “troublemaker”, do not allege any criminal, quasi-criminal or immoral actions, nor does the term imply an improper motive on the part of [the plaintiff]. 2007 May 23