A former Crown lawyer is proceeding with a defamation suit against Nova Scotia’s premier and a former justice minister, alleging they “acted maliciously” in causing harm to his reputation.
The claim is part of a lawsuit on behalf of Alex Cameron that was filed Wednesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
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In the notice of action, Cameron says he was “publicly abused and humiliated” by comments made by Premier Stephen McNeil and Diana Whalen.
The veteran litigator says their public disavowal of his arguments in a controversial Indigenous rights case ruined his reputation.
Cameron also says the cumulative effect of the actions made his employment with the province so intolerable that he retired on April 30, 2017.
A legal brief prepared by Cameron in the summer of 2016 argued the province didn’t have a legal duty to consult the Sipekne’katik band on a natural gas storage proposal because there was historical evidence of the band’s “submission” to the Crown in 1760.
The lawyer wrote that was in contrast to the treaty rights of what he called “unconquered peoples.”
The position drew heavy public criticism, and both McNeil and Whalen distanced themselves from the argument, maintaining they didn’t know about it and it didn’t represent their view on the matter.
“By subsequently repudiating those arguments as not being the position of the province … and by never clarifying that the plaintiff had acted at all times pursuant to the instructions that he had been given … the premier and minister Whalen abused their public offices by cynically sacrificing the plaintiff’s reputation for political purposes,” the notice states.
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Cameron says in the lawsuit that his actions were approved by senior government officials and all, up to and including McNeil, were aware of how he intended to proceed in court.
Both the premier and Whalen have previously denied Cameron’s allegation, and subsequent affidavits by government officials have disputed his account.
Cameron’s latest legal move follows the release in February of emails and affidavits made available by the provincial courts, just minutes after the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal from the province that claimed the documents were protected by client-solicitor privilege.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2020.
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