The defendants brought an anti-SLAPP motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss the plaintiffs' $4 million defamation action.
The plaintiffs, senior public servants, alleged the defendants defamed them by accusing them of corruption and fraud in relation to a federal procurement contract.
The court found that while the expressions related to a matter of public interest, the plaintiffs demonstrated substantial merit to their defamation claim and grounds to believe the defendants had no valid defence.
The court concluded that the reputational harm suffered by the plaintiffs outweighed the public interest in protecting the defendants' unverified expressions.
The motion was dismissed with costs awarded to the plaintiffs.
