2020 November 2

9155-7843 Quebec inc. v. Corporation Sun Media, 2020 QCCS 3496

The Quebec Superior Court dismissed a defamation action over a newspaper article published on the Internet and in print concerning, inter alia, a December 2013 judgment against the plaintiff’s restaurant linked to an inspection by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of Quebec.  The newspaper article also referred to a previous judgment against the restaurant resulting from an inspection in August, 2009.   The Court held that the article fell into the category of reporting on legal proceedings.  In this category, there is no requirement that a journalist undertake an investigation to determine if the report is correct. The two inspection reports were to be treated as evidence given to the court in course of judicial proceedings.   An inspection report is theoretically available to everyone under access to information laws.  The public relies on journalists to obtain this information and report it.  Here, because the newspaper accurately reported the contents of the two reports, in good faith, there is no liability.