2010 July 8

Sauvé v. Canada, 2010 FC 734

The Federal Court dismissed an defamation action on the basis that the RCMP was not responsible for defamatory statements allegedly posted on a website entitled RCMP Vets Net (Vets Net). The defence called the owner of the website, a private individual, who testified that he owned the relevant domain name and was the sole owner of Vets Net which he had created as a place where retired RCMP members could stay in touch. The witness also testified that the RCMP neither funded nor controlled the website in any way. The Acting Manager of New Media for the RCMP also testified that the RCMP did not control Vets Net directly or indirectly and did not even provide a hyperlink to it on the RCMP website. Further, a disclaimer webpage warned visitors to the RCMP website when they were leaving the website that the RCMP is not responsible for the contents of any external website to which it provides hyperlinks. In any event, the plaintiff failed to prove that the words he complained about were in fact published on the Vets Net website.