2017 March 13

Enverga v. Balita Newspaper, 2017 ONSC 1635

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice found the defendants guilty of criminal contempt of court for violating an injunction granted by the trial judge on July 13, 2016. The contempt included disseminating an email in October 2016 which “repeated and re-asserted the truth of the same falsehoods that were the subject of the injunction.” The Court stated that there is a three part test for establishing contempt of court:  a) the injunction order must state clearly and unequivocally what should or should not be done; b) the party alleged to have breached the order must have had actual knowledge of it; and c) the party alleged to have breached the order must have intentionally done the prohibited act (Carey v Laiken, 2015 SCC 17). The Court also held the defendants breached the injunction in another email in December, 2016 and online comments on August 5, 2016  The Court characterized the contempt as criminal rather than civil [United Nurses of Alberta v Alberta (Attorney General), 1992 CanLII 99 (SCC)] because the defendant’s conduct was an “open, continuous and flagrant violation“.