In his three-page response to the lawsuit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday, John Horgan said he made “a full and fair apology” on Aug. 8 that was “given wide dissemination in the print, broadcast and online media.”Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
B.C. Premier John Horgan has filed his defence in a lawsuit brought by the province's former LNG advocate and says his remarks were not defamatory and did not cause the man any injury or loss.
Gordon Wilson filed a $5-million defamation lawsuit against Mr. Horgan, B.C. Jobs Minister Bruce Ralston and federal NDP MP Rachel Blaney in mid-August.
The lawsuit came after comments made two weeks earlier when Mr. Wilson was fired from his position as the province's advocate for liquified natural gas. All three defendants have apologized for falsely stating Mr. Wilson completed little work in his four years on the job, during which he was paid $550,000.
In his three-page response to the lawsuit, filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday, Mr. Horgan said he made "a full and fair apology" on Aug. 8 that was "given wide dissemination in the print, broadcast and online media."
He said his comments were made without malice on a matter of public interest and were based on "information from apparently reliable and qualified sources within the British Columbia government."
The response did not identify the sources but said the defence of responsible communication applied. Mr. Horgan also invoked the defences of fair comment and qualified privilege.
Mr. Horgan opposed the granting of any relief to Mr. Wilson and expressly denied causing any harm.
Mr. Ralston filed a near-identical response the same day as the Premier.
The Jobs Minister also denied his statements were defamatory, said his information came from sources within the B.C. government and argued Mr. Wilson did not suffer any injury or loss.
Mr. Ralston said he apologized for his remarks and retracted them on Aug. 7. He said he issued a further apology and retraction three days later, when Mr. Wilson said the initial statement had not gone far enough.
Ms. Blaney, who represents the federal riding of North Island – Powell River, has not yet filed her defence.
Her office issued a statement the day Mr. Wilson's lawsuit was filed that said she regretted an inaccurate comment she had made about him on Facebook. She retracted the comment in its entirety and apologized.
Mr. Wilson, a former professor of resource economics at what is now Capilano University, became leader of the BC Liberals in 1987 and led the party from zero to 17 seats in 1991. He eventually left the party and joined the NDP where he held cabinet posts including Finance and Education. However, he backed the BC Liberals in 2013, endorsing former premier Christy Clark's campaign.
Ms. Clark named Mr. Wilson the province's LNG advocate later that year and he said his skill set and knowledge of governmental relations were factors in that decision.
At issue in the case are comments made after Mr. Wilson's Aug. 1 firing that falsely suggested he submitted little written work during his time as LNG advocate.
Documents posted to the B.C. government website – produced as a result of an Access to Information request by the NDP when it was in opposition – show the various papers Mr. Wilson wrote on LNG.
Mr. Wilson's 14-page lawsuit said the defendants suggested there was "something dishonest" about his work. He said they accused him of depriving taxpayers of benefit and money and of not performing the work that was required of him.
He said the comments were made out of malice and lacked due diligence.
Mr. Wilson said the defendants' actions have negatively affected his ability to obtain employment.
Robert Hainsworth, Mr. Wilson's lawyer, last month said the $5-million figure was based on the prospective damage to Mr. Wilson's earning potential.
"We will leave a final determination up to a judge as to what the best assessment is. However, at this point, we feel that that number is justified," Mr. Hainsworth said at the time.
With a report from Ian Bailey