2026 October 6

Quinney v. McCarthy, 2026 ABKB 700

After the defendant was noted in default, the Alberta Court of King’s Bench granted summary judgment to the plaintiff on November 25, 2025 and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendant from any further publication of defamatory content contained in a series of online posts on social media platforms.  In this October 6, 2026 ruling, the court assessed damages, awarding the plaintiff $100,000 general damages and $25,000 aggravated damages.  No punitive damages were awarded.  The court described the defendant as “a social media influencer who posts frequently across multiple platforms including Facebook and TikTok, in some cases up to 10 times a day.”  The defendant, describing himself as a community watchdog and advocate for accountability, began in February 2024 and escalated in September 2024, becoming more personal and direct, focussing on a disagreement between the plaintiff and the defendant’s father over the administration of the Frog Lake First Nation.  The defendant’s posts continued to escalate and became “more direct and hostile” in June 25, 2025.  “The affidavit evidence refers to at least 30 separate posts or videos” which contain defamatory content about the plaintiff over “a sustained period from February 2024 through to November 2025.”

The court noted that the defendant “has over 42,000 Facebook followers and over 34,000 TikTok followers” and that “his content is disseminated widely, with some of his videos amassing thousands of views” and that the defendant’s followers “frequently engage with his content by liking his posts, choosing reactions, leaving comments or reposting the [defendant’s] content.”  “On many occasions, the [defendant] replied to comments from his followers and about the content he posted.”  The court noted that the defendant had been found in contempt on January 19, 2026 for failing to remove all posts relating to the plaintiff and had not purged his contempt.  The court rejected the defendant’s submissions that his alleged financial difficulties should limit the damages awarded, referring with approval to KY v Bahler, 2023 ABKB where the Alberta Court of King’s Bench stated at para. 1624: “[T]he ability of the defendant to pay has never been regarded as a relevant consideration in the assessment of damages at common law.”