A B.C. Supreme Court judge has rejected a West Vancouver man's claim that he was defamed by comments made during a 2009 provincial all-candidates forum.
No reasonable person who attended the forum would have had their views of David Marley lowered by comments made by businessman Peter Kains, particularly since Marley immediately responded and had the last word, Justice Elaine Adair concluded.
Marley, who ran as an independent candidate in the 2009 provincial election, sued Kains - a friend and political supporter of Liberal MLA Ralph Sultan - for telling the audience at the debate that Marley was under investigation by the police and attorney general for his conduct during the 2008 civic elections.
But the judge didn't agree that Marley was harmed by that, saying Marley had an immediate opportunity to respond to Kains and it was unlikely anyone's opinion of Marley was lowered as a result.
The judge added it's clear Kains' comments did nothing to change the outcome of the election, noting Marley got only seven percent of the popular vote, compared to Sultan's 66 per cent. "The evidence is quite clear that Mr. Marley was never any threat - much less a serious threat - to Mr. Sultan, the candidate Mr. Kains was supporting," wrote Adair, adding even Marley had acknowledged Sultan's seat was "the safest Liberal seat in the province."
"At worst, Mr. Marley may have lost a few votes."
The judge also agreed with Kain's lawyer, Rodney Sieg, that all-candidates' meetings are covered by qualified privilege - meaning that generally people should be freer to question and comment on those standing for elected office, without risk of being sued.
The judge wrote the whole point of an allcandidates' forum is for voters to ask questions - sometime uncomfortable questions - and see how candidates respond. The judge said it's clear Marley, who had been active in politics for almost 40 years, understood that.
"Moreover, the content of Mr. Kains' question was reasonably appropriate in the context of a question period at an all-candidates forum prior to an election and did not exceed the scope of privilege," wrote the judge.
Contacted at his West Vancouver home, Marley said Tuesday he was disappointed in the decision. "I would have wished it to go the other way," he said.
Marley said he's still mulling over the decision and hadn't ruled out an appeal.
