2013 August 5

Gesca ltée c. Corporation Sun Media, 2013 QCCS 3689

The Quebec Superior Court awarded the plaintiff, the owner of Montreal’s La Presse newspaper, defamation damages of $10,000 over a June 2011 article published in Le Journal de Montreal, a Sun Media newspaper, and on websites operated by the defendant Canoë Inc., which made disparaging allegations about the plaintiff’s relationship with Radio-Canada. The Court ordered that: the article be removed from www.canoe.ca; that the defendants publish a retraction in Le Journal de Montreal; and that Canoë Inc. post a link to the retraction on its home page for 48 hours and thereafter maintain that link on its website for 2 years. The Court rejected defence arguments that the lawsuit was brought to suppress freedom of expression.