Wise Law Blog: Cadman Scandal

Friday, June 06, 2008

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Stephen Harper v. The Liberal Party of Canada

The Prime Minister has made good on his promise to sue the Liberal Party of Canada.

Yesterday, he initiated a lawsuit against his political adversaries over their allegations that he knew of financial inducements allegedly offered by the Conservative Party in 2005 to Chuck Cadman, a deceased, former member of Canada's Parliament.

Harper filed a 32-page Statement of Claim in Ontario Superior Court of Justice at Ottawa, naming the Liberal Party of Canada and others as Defendants.

The Prime Minister claims damages totalling $2.5 million for defamation over the February 29, 2008 publication on the Liberal Party of Canada website of an article entitled "Harper Knew of Conservative Bribery."

The claim alleges that the Prime Minister's reputation was harmed by the article, along with subsequent articles on the Liberal Party website and related statements by Opposition Leader Stephane Dion and other Liberal Party officials.

The Prime Minister claims that "as a result of the defamatory publications in issue... he has been brought into ridicule, scandal and contempt both personally and as the holder of the Office of Prime Minister of Canada."

The Prime Minister did not sue Mr. Dion or other Liberals personally.

Once the Defendants have been personally served with Prime Minister's Statement of Claim, each must file a Statement of Defence within 20 days. A 10 day extension of this deadline may be obtained by any Defendant who delivers a short pleading known as a Notice of Intent to Defend.

None of the Prime Minister's allegations have to date been proven in a court of law

More background on the Cadman affair, or Cadscam, is here.

We will be following this litigation very closely.

Interesting questions: If the Conservative Party is defeated in the next election, will Plaintiff Harper blame it all on Cadscam and argue that he is entitled to damages for loss of the Prime Ministership? How would those damages be quantified by a Court?

And... who says you can't do one blog about law and politics?

More reading:

PM files $2.5M libel suit against Liberals in Cadman affair - CBC
PM files libel suit, Dion refuses to apologize - CTV
Canada PM sues opposition for libel - AFP
Canadian prime minister sues opposition Liberals - Reuters
Harper sues Liberals over Cadman affair - CanWest
PM seeks $2.5M from Liberals - Toronto Star
Harper sues Liberals for libel - Globe and Mail
Oh yes, Steve's very litigious - Impolitical
So Sue Me - Calgary Grit
"This will become the biggest error in judgment in Mr.Dion's career" - Far and Wide
Getting Things Sued - Apply Liberally
Harper libel chills the nation - Wingnuterer

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Question Period: Dion and Harper on Cadscam

Yesterday's Question Period in the House of Commons included a raucus debate on the Chuck Cadman affair and the Prime Minister's threats to sue Stephane Dion and other prominent Liberals for libel:

The Prime Minister's threat of libel action stems from allegations byMr. Dion and other Liberals that "financial inducments," including a $1 million life insurance policy, were offered by Conservative operatives to now-deceased, independent Member of Parliament, Chuck Cadman in an effort to secure his support in a crucial 2005 budget vote that had potoential to topple Paul Martin's Liberal Government.

The Globe and Mail reports on the lawsuit threat:

Mr. Harper filed a notice of libel suit Monday against Mr. Dion, two other top members of his caucus and the party. Court documents obtained by CTV and The Globe and Mail say two articles published on the Liberal website were “devastatingly defamatory” to the Prime Minister.
The notice of libel, which also names Liberal Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and House Leader Ralph Goodale, takes on the Opposition for saying that Mr. Harper knew Conservative party officials attempted to bribe Mr. Cadman to vote against a Liberal budget in the spring of 2005.
“It's going to take much more than [the] threat of [a] lawsuit from stopping us from getting to the truth,” Mr. Dion told the House of Commons during yet another boisterous session of Question Period.