2015 November 12

McMullan v. Davidoff, 2015 CanLII 77266

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Small Claims Court) awarded the plaintiff mayor $25,000 damages (the limit of Small Claims jurisdiction) against the defendant, who had unsuccessfully run against the plaintiff in 2010, over four postings on the defendant’s blog which the defendant started a week after the 2010 election. The postings, which were still on the Internet at the time of trial, were estimated by the defendant to have been seen by 140,000 to 200,000 people. The court considered an award of punitive damages was warranted but could not make the award because of the $25,000 limit on the Small Claims Court’s jurisdiction.