2013 July 22

Mainstream Canada v. Staniford, 2013 BCCA 341, leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada denied: 2014 CanLII 5973 (SCC)

The British Columbia Court of Appeal set aside the trial judge’s finding that the defendant was protected by the defence of fair comment and awarded the plaintiff $25,000 general damages and $50,000 punitive damages over defamatory comments contained in: (i) a January 2011 press release which was also published on the defendant’s website; and (ii) other publications on the defendant’s website. The Court of Appeal also awarded the plaintiff special costs (close to full indemnity) of the trial in BC Supreme Court, party-party costs of the appeal hearing (partial indemnity), and a permanent injunction.