Christie v. Geiger and Edmonton Sun, (1984) 58 A.R. 168 (QB)

• Judge: Foisy, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Case Date: December 04, 1984
• Citations: (1984), 58 A.R. 168 (QB)

Christie v. Geiger (1984), 58 A.R. 168 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Christie v. Geiger and Edmonton Sun

(No. 8103-30183)

Indexed As: Christie v. Geiger and Edmonton Sun

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Edmonton

Foisy, J.

December 4, 1984.

Summary:

The plaintiff lawyer founded the Western Canada Concept (W.C.C.), which was a Western-Canada separation movement. He campaigned in the West on its behalf, focusing on political and economic policy. The defendant writer and newspaper published an article disparaging the motives and mentality of the plaintiff and the W.C.C. Words such as "misfits", "throwbacks", and "losers" were used. The W.C.C. was called "just an Alberta version of the Ku Klux Klan", which could attract votes only from "the lunatic fringe". The plaintiff brought an action in libel for damages. The defendants pleaded truth and fair comment.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action and awarded $30,000.00 general damages. The court found that the facts stated were not true and the purported comments were not fair, but only invective.

Civil Rights - Topic 8304

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Application - Retrospectivity - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the Charter was inapplicable in an action for damages for defamation, where the defamation was complete before the Charter was proclaimed. See paragraphs 35 to 45.

Damage Awards - Topic 632

Torts affecting the person - Libel and slander - A newspaper published a defamatory article attacking the motives and mentality of the founder and leader of the Western Canada Concept - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench awarded the leader $30,000.00 general damages for libel; although he suffered no substantial harm either as a lawyer or a politician - See paragraphs 28, 72, 77.

Libel and Slander - Topic 632

Defamatory statement - What constitutes - Examples of defamatory words - A newspaper published an article attacking the motives and mentality of the founder and leader of the Western Canada Concept, an economic and political movement supporting western separation - Words such as "misfits", "throwbacks" and "losers" were used - The W.C.C. was called "just an Alberta version of the Ku Klux Klan" and a reference was made to "Doug and his W.C.C. slugs" attracting votes only from the "lunatic fringe" - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the article was libelous and it was not fair comment or true, but only invective - See paragraphs 21 to 31.

Libel and Slander - Topic 652

Defamatory statement - Test for - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench generally discussed defamation and the test for determining whether a statement is defamatory - See paragraphs 21 to 31.

Libel and Slander - Topic 2861

Defences - Justification or truth - General - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the defence of truth of a defamatory statement was unavailable, where the invective directed at the plaintiff was simply untrue - See paragraphs 64 to 69.

Libel and Slander - Topic 3106

Defences - Fair comment - Elements - General - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench stated the following elements of the defence of fair comment on the matter of public interest: (1) The words must be comment and not statement of fact; (2) There must be a basis of fact for the comment; (4) There is a matter of public interest; (5) The statement must be made honestly and with no malice - See paragraphs 47 to 55, 61 to 64.

Libel and Slander - Topic 4444

Damages - Mitigation - Apology - The defendants in a libel action refused to apologize or retract - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held, accordingly, that there was no mitigation of the plaintiff's damages - See paragraphs 28, 70 to 77.

Libel and Slander - Topic 4504

Damages - Liable - Proof of damage - Damage presumed - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the plaintiff in an action for damages for libel need not prove injury, because damage is presumed - See paragraphs 28, 70 to 77.

Cases Noticed:

Scott v. Sampson (1882), 8 Q.B.D. 491, appld. [para. 21].

Adam v. Ward, [1917] A.C. 309 (H.L.), appld. [para. 22].

R. v. Donald, [1983] W.C.D. 119 (B.C.), consd. [para. 37].

R. v. Wilson (1982), 37 A.R. 170 (Alta. Prov. Ct.), consd. [para. 37].

R. v. Cameron (1982), 39 A.R. 194 (Alta. Q.B.), consd. [para. 37].

R. v. Burns Foods Ltd. (1983), 76 C.P.R.(2d) 223 (Alta. Prov. C.), dist. [para. 39].

R. v. Dickson (1982), 3 C.C.C.(3d) 23 (O.C.C.), consd. [para. 40].

Re Potma v. R. (1982), 67 C.C.C.(2d) 19 (O.H.C.), consd. [para. 41].

R. v. Lee (1982), 1 C.C.C.(3d) 327, consd. [para. 41].

R. v. Longtin (1983), 5 C.C.C.(3d) 12, consd. [para. 41].

R. v. Dubois, (1983), 5 C.C.C.(3d) 273 (Alta. Q.B.), affd. 51 A.R. 210; 11 C.C.C.(2d) 453 (Alta. C.A.), consd. [para. 42].

Statutes Noticed:

Defamation Act, R.S.A. 1980, c. D-6, sect. 2(2) [para. 28]; sect. 15(1), sect. 16(1) [para. 70].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Fleming, The Law of Torts (5th Ed.), pp. 574-575 [para. 51]; 576 [para. 52].

Gatley, On Libel and Slander (8th Ed. 1981), pp. 31 [para. 24]; 41 [para. 25]; 691, 692 [para. 53]; 696-698 [para. 54]; 699 [para. 55].

Linden, Canadian Tort Law (3rd Ed.), pp. 711-712 [para. 49]; 713 [para. 50].

Salmond, The Law of Torts (18th Ed. 1981), pp. 131-132 [para. 26]; 133 [para. 30]; 144 [para. 27].

Williams, The Law of Defamation [para. 27].

Counsel:

Duncan L. McKillop, for the plaintiff;

Barry Zalmonowitz and D.R. Thomas, for the defendants.

This case was heard at Edmonton, Alberta, before Foisy, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Edmonton, who delivered the following judgment on December 4, 1984: