B.C. Appeal Court overturns defamation suit by Greens’ Weaver against newspaper
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit against the National Post by climate-scientist and politician Andrew Weaver.
He was originally awarded $50,000 in damages and the newspaper was ordered to publish a complete retraction in a form agreed to by Weaver.
The lawsuit involved four articles published by the Post in 2009 and 2010 that Weaver claimed defamed him by implying he fabricated stories about the fossil fuel industry and allegedly engaged in deceitful, unscientific conduct.
In the previous case, the newspaper argued the articles were about Weaver’s public actions and words, not his character, and said they amounted to fair comment.