A school board trustee sued a teachers' union president for defamation arising from public statements characterizing the trustee's online posts opposing a provincial sexual orientation and gender identity educational initiative as bigoted, transphobic, and hateful.
The defendant applied to dismiss the action under British Columbia's anti-SLAPP statute, the Protection of Public Participation Act.
The chambers judge dismissed the defamation action, finding a valid fair comment defence and that the public interest in protecting the defendant's counter-speech outweighed the limited harm to the plaintiff.
The Court of Appeal reinstated the action.
The Supreme Court of Canada majority restored the chambers judge's dismissal order, holding that the plaintiff failed to adduce sufficient evidence of serious harm causally linked to the defendant's statements, and that the defendant's expression as counter-speech on a matter of public interest relating to a marginalized group was deserving of significant protection under the public interest weighing exercise in s. 4(2)(b) of the PPPA.
Côté J. dissented, concluding the plaintiff was entitled to a day in court and that the chambers judge erred in failing to consider aggravating factors to harm and the quality of the expression at issue.
