2017 July 25

United Soils Management Ltd. v. Mohammed, 2017 ONSC 4450

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted a defendant’s application for summary judgment pursuant to s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act dismissing this defamation lawsuit which complained of text messages and postings on the Internet, in respect of which the defendant had retracted and apologized.  The Court held that the words complained of did not convey the defamatory “sting” alleged by the plaintiff.  The Court also considered that there were no grounds to believe that the defence of “responsible communication” is not valid.  Under the Courts of Justice Act, a defendant only needs one valid defence for a motion to dismiss to succeed.  Further, the Court found that in this particular case, there was no evidence of any particular harm to the plaintiff and that in any event, the harm likely to be suffered by the plaintiff “is not so serious that permitting the proceeding to continue outweighs the public interest in protecting that expression.”