OTTAWA – An Ontario Superior Court judge has ruled that former Conservative MP Helena Guergis must pay $118,560 in legal costs to those she tried unsuccessfully to sue for defamation – including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada – after she was booted from the party caucus and cabinet.
“When a plaintiff, as in this case, chooses to sue a wide variety of defendants on the basis of accusations of conspiracy and bad faith, the expectation must be that the claims will be vigorously defended,” said Justice Charles T. Hackland in Monday’s decision.
“The plaintiff’s expectation here must have been that the defendants would be incurring substantial costs in the defence of this action.”
Guergis, the former minister of state for the status of women and onetime MP for the Ontario riding of Simcoe-Grey, resigned from cabinet and was dumped from caucus in 2010 after Harper announced that his office had become aware of “serious allegations” regarding her conduct.
The RCMP later cleared her of those allegations.
In August, she lost her case against Harper, two of his senior aides, a Conservative party lawyer, two Tory MPs and one of their former staffers, a private investigator, and the Conservative Party of Canada.
On Monday, Harper, his principle secretary Ray Novak, former chief of staff Guy Giorno, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt, and Conservative MP Shelly Glover were awarded a total of $46,500.
The Conservative Party of Canada was awarded $26,560. A former staff member for Raitt was awarded $18,900 and Conservative party lawyer Arthur Hamilton and his law firm were awarded $26,600.
- Toronto Pearson gold heist: Ontario man arrested at airport after arriving from India
- A ‘zombie’ virus is raging among raccoons. What to know
- Could notwithstanding clause be used on abortion? Poilievre’s office says ‘never’
- Renters so far more ‘vulnerable’ than homeowners amid higher interest rates. Why?
Private Investigator Derrick Snowdy did not participate in the motion.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the lawyers who represented Harper declined comment.
“The judgment speaks for itself,” said Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall in an email to Postmedia News.
Overall, the defendants had sought slightly more than $226,000 in costs and disbursements.
According to court documents, Guergis had claimed “conspiracy, defamation, misfeasance in public office, intentional infliction of mental suffering, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of duty of good faith and breach of confidence.”
“Due to the large number of causes of action pleaded and the length and structure of the Statement of Claim, I would agree that the legal issues were of some complexity,” Hackland wrote in the decision.
“On the other hand, this was a pleadings motion, argued without evidence and cannot therefore be considered highly complex.”
Stephen Victor, Guergis’s lawyer, declined comment on Monday’s decision but confirmed that Guergis will still appeal her case. The case will be heard April 17 in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Comments