Western Weekly Reports
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WESTERN WEEKLY REPORTS Reports of Cases Decided in the Courts of Western Canada and Certain Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada 2012-VOLUME 7 (Cited [2012] 7 W.W.R.) All cases of value from the courts of Western Canada and appeals therefrom to the Supreme Court of Canada SELECTION EDITOR Walter J. Watson, B.A., LL.B. ASSOCIATE EDITORS (Alberta) E. Mirth, Q.C. (British Columbia) Darrell E. Burns, LL.B., LL.M. (Manitoba) E. Arthur Braid, Q.C. (Saskatchewan) G.L. Gerrand, Q.C. CARSWELL EDITORIAL STAFF Cheryl L. McPherson, B.A.(HONS.) Director, Primary Content Operations Audrey Wineberg, B.A.(HONS.), LL.B. Product Development Manager Jennifer Weinberger, B.A.(HONS.), J.D. Supervisor, Legal Writing Sharon Yale, LL.B., M.A. Supervisor, Legal Writing Sarah Leopoldo, B.A.(HONS.) Content Editor WESTERN WEEKLY REPORTS is published 48 times per year. Subscrip- Western Weekly Reports est publi´e 48 fois par ann´ee. L’abonnement est de tion rate $379.00 per bound volume including parts. Indexed: Carswell’s In- 379 $ par volume reli´e incluant les fascicules. Indexation: Index a` la docu- dex to Canadian Legal Literature. mentation juridique au Canada de Carswell. Editorial Offices are also located at the following address: 430 rue St. Pierre, Le bureau de la r´edaction est situ´e a` Montr´eal — 430, rue St. Pierre, Mon- Montr´eal, Qu´ebec, H2Y 2M5. tr´eal, Qu´ebec, H2Y 2M5. ________ ________ © 2012 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited © 2012 Thomson Reuters Canada Limit´ee NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved. No part of this publica- MISE EN GARDE ET AVIS D’EXONERATION´ DE RESPON- tion may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any SABILITE´ : Tous droits r´eserv´es. 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ISSN 0049-7525 ISBN 978-0-7798-4875-1 Printed in Canada by Thomson Reuters CARSWELL, A DIVISION OF THOMSON REUTERS CANADA LIMITED One Corporate Plaza Customer Relations 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto 1-416-609-3800 Toronto, Ontario Elsewhere in Canada/U.S. 1-800-387-5164 M1T 3V4 Fax 1-416-298-5082 www.carswell.com E-mail www.carswell.com/email Lawson v. Baines 429 [Indexed as: Lawson v. Baines] The Hon. Edward M. Lawson (Respondent / Plaintiff) and David Baines, Hugh Dawson, Patricia Graham, Kirk LaPointe, Kevin D. Best and Canwest Publishing Inc. (Appellants / Defendants) British Columbia Court of Appeal Docket: Vancouver CA038961 2012 BCCA 117 Finch C.J.A., Hall, Hinkson JJ.A. Heard: January 11, 2012 Judgment: March 9, 2012 Torts –––– Defamation — Nature of defamation — Innuendo — General principles –––– Defendant B wrote newspaper column that mentioned involve- ment of plaintiff, former senator, in events that happened in 1980s — Plaintiff brought action for damages against B and business editor, managing editor, edi- tor-in-chief, and publisher of newspaper, claiming that he was libelled by state- ments made about him in column — Plaintiff alleged that, properly understood, words complained of meant that he was corrupt, was guilty of corruption under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and had abused his office with Teamsters Union for personal benefit and financial gain — Plaintiff’s ac- tion for defamation was allowed — Trial judge found if words complained of bore inferential meaning alleged by plaintiff, they were defamatory — Trial judge found describing someone as corrupt or dishonest would clearly lower him in estimation of right-thinking members of community — Trial judge found sting of alleged libel was that plaintiff engaged in criminal activities by partici- pating in fraudulent stock scheme and obtaining personal and unauthorized be- nefits from making Teamsters jet available to his close friends C and W, who were found to have been involved in fraudulent stock scheme — Trial judge found plaintiff could not succeed if words bore only inferential meaning that he was unethical person of poor judgment who gained from his involvement with questionable individuals and organizations — Trial judge found ordinary person would infer from words complained of that plaintiff was corrupt in sense that he had associated with two convicted criminals in their fraudulent scheme and that he had obtained personal benefit, in form of free shares, by making Teamsters jet available to C and W — Defendants appealed — Appeal dismissed — Trial judge clearly found words complained of were capable of not only defamatory meaning, but capable of at least some of inferential meanings claimed — Find- ing that words were capable of bearing defamatory meaning did not unreasona- bly seize on only possible bad meaning amongst several good interpretations in order to hold them capable of bearing defamatory meaning — One reasonable inference of words was that plaintiff had advertently engaged in corrupt activi- 430 WESTERN WEEKLY REPORTS [2012] 7 W.W.R. ties by participating in fraudulent stock scheme and also by obtaining personal and unauthorized benefits from making teamster’s jet available to C and W — Combined implications and overall impression was that words were capable of bearing defamatory meaning — Trial judge properly considered column as whole — Trial judge properly found words