![]() The Court found the article to be riddled with falsehoods. So on November 3, 2010, I filed another, separate action for defamation.įinally, in June of 2016, some six months after hearing evidence from more than 30 witnesses during a four-week trial, the Court of Queen’s Bench delivered its verdict. Martin, Postmedia and Canwest were found guilty of defamation. Postmedia ignored my requests to cease publication of the article. Then, a bizarre twist: in 2010, Canwest went bankrupt and the purchaser of the newspaper chain's assets, Postmedia Network Inc., continued publishing the Martin Article on the Internet. The defendants successfully opposed that lawsuit, but not before assuring New York's appeal court that worldwide damages, if proven, could be awarded to me in the Alberta proceedings. Later in 2008, I filed an action in New York State Supreme Court. I filed my Statement of Claim in Calgary in July 2008. Ignoring my notice of possible legal action, Martin and the newspapers’ owner, Canwest, left me no choice. Martin later acknowledged he granted "reflexive" anonymity to each of these regular sources. Ultimately, Martin voluntarily revealed that his sources included two of his longtime political buddies, both PC lobbyists and backroom operators enraged by my advocacy for party renewal. This, despite discovering Martin initially lied to his editors about the number and identities of his anonymous sources. His piece contained no comment from me of any kind.Īfter the article's publication in print and on the Internet, the newspapers refused to publish my written response or correct the article’s many errors. Soon after I spoke out for reform of the party's patronage culture and its tone-deaf governance, a blistering attack was levelled at me by the National Pos t and Calgary Herald. The article was written by Don Martin - sitting at a desk more than 2,000 miles to the east in Ottawa. I was a candidate for the province’s governing Progressive Conservatives. In February of 2008, I stepped away from a 35-year career in journalism to stand for elected office in my hometown, Calgary, Alberta. ![]()
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