The defendant brought a motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss a libel action commenced by the plaintiff, the former Chair of the Toronto Port Authority.
The action arose from a statement attributed to the defendant in a magazine article about Porter Airlines.
The court found the statement related to a matter of public interest and the plaintiff failed to demonstrate reasonable grounds to believe the proceeding had substantial merit or that the defendant had no valid defence.
The action was dismissed, and the defendant was awarded full indemnity costs of $80,000, but the court declined to award damages for bad faith.
