A costly CBC libel resulted in seven figures’ worth of legal bills for taxpayers, records show. The payouts follow a network story that falsely accused a Montréal businessman of links to organized crime, according to Blacklock's Reporter..Newly-released Access To Information records indicate CBC legal fees in the case totaled $623,000. The network was also required to pay $60,000 in damages and plaintiff’s costs that were undisclosed, but expected to run past a half million. The figures covered eight years of litigation..“A journalist must not exaggerate or mislead the public,” Québec Court of Appeal Justice Jocelyn Rancourt wrote in an Oct. 21, 2021 ruling upholding the defamation claim..“A journalist must deal with a subject objectively and inform the public impartially and fairly.”.Litigation followed a 2013 broadcast by the CBC’s French language service Radio-Canada. Reporter Alain Gravel falsely claimed a Montréal developer of Italian ancestry had ties to the Mafia..The Court of Appeal concluded the network misrepresented key facts in the case, falsely suggested the developer forged a signature on a document, surreptitiously recorded the businessman using hidden cameras and had “no information that would confirm participation in criminal activities linked to the Mafia.”.“Neither Gravel nor the CBC met professional journalistic standards both in the preparation and presentation of the report,” wrote the Court. “Facts were distorted. They aimed to tell a catchier, more sensational and interesting story then it really was. These faults are the CBC’s.”.The CBC has not detailed total yearly costs of defamation claims across the network. Disclosure of fees in the Québec case follow a March 4 CBC court judgment in Winnipeg that became the costliest defamation award in Manitoba history..“The CBC took very strong positions during the course of the trial that were not supported by the facts as I found them,” wrote Justice Herbert Rempel of Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. Rempel ordered the network to pay $295,017 in addition to $1,659,403 in damages awarded earlier..The total $1.95 million was the highest award to date in a Manitoba defamation case since 1998 when a Winnipeg jury ordered John Bucklaschuk, a former New Democrat cabinet minister, to pay $2 million for remarks against a public service manager. The Bucklaschuk verdict was struck down on appeal in 1999..The CBC case concerned 2012 stories that falsely accused a Winnipeg investment adviser of unethical practices..“The CBC had an obligation to report the facts in a fair, balanced and responsible manner,” wrote Justice Rempel. “It failed.”
A costly CBC libel resulted in seven figures’ worth of legal bills for taxpayers, records show. The payouts follow a network story that falsely accused a Montréal businessman of links to organized crime, according to Blacklock's Reporter..Newly-released Access To Information records indicate CBC legal fees in the case totaled $623,000. The network was also required to pay $60,000 in damages and plaintiff’s costs that were undisclosed, but expected to run past a half million. The figures covered eight years of litigation..“A journalist must not exaggerate or mislead the public,” Québec Court of Appeal Justice Jocelyn Rancourt wrote in an Oct. 21, 2021 ruling upholding the defamation claim..“A journalist must deal with a subject objectively and inform the public impartially and fairly.”.Litigation followed a 2013 broadcast by the CBC’s French language service Radio-Canada. Reporter Alain Gravel falsely claimed a Montréal developer of Italian ancestry had ties to the Mafia..The Court of Appeal concluded the network misrepresented key facts in the case, falsely suggested the developer forged a signature on a document, surreptitiously recorded the businessman using hidden cameras and had “no information that would confirm participation in criminal activities linked to the Mafia.”.“Neither Gravel nor the CBC met professional journalistic standards both in the preparation and presentation of the report,” wrote the Court. “Facts were distorted. They aimed to tell a catchier, more sensational and interesting story then it really was. These faults are the CBC’s.”.The CBC has not detailed total yearly costs of defamation claims across the network. Disclosure of fees in the Québec case follow a March 4 CBC court judgment in Winnipeg that became the costliest defamation award in Manitoba history..“The CBC took very strong positions during the course of the trial that were not supported by the facts as I found them,” wrote Justice Herbert Rempel of Manitoba Court of King’s Bench. Rempel ordered the network to pay $295,017 in addition to $1,659,403 in damages awarded earlier..The total $1.95 million was the highest award to date in a Manitoba defamation case since 1998 when a Winnipeg jury ordered John Bucklaschuk, a former New Democrat cabinet minister, to pay $2 million for remarks against a public service manager. The Bucklaschuk verdict was struck down on appeal in 1999..The CBC case concerned 2012 stories that falsely accused a Winnipeg investment adviser of unethical practices..“The CBC had an obligation to report the facts in a fair, balanced and responsible manner,” wrote Justice Rempel. “It failed.”
