Libel Lawsuit

Premier Kathleen Wynne has taken the next step toward suing PC leader Patrick Brown after giving him six weeks to apologize for saying she was “on trial” in Sudbury. In fact, the Premier was testifying as a witness in the trial of two Liberal operatives.

No apology came and now the Premier has filed a notice of libel.

In a statement, Brown says the Premier is trying to deflect attention from a trial about Dalton McGuinty’s cancelled gas plants and from the auditor general’s report.

“Make no mistake, it is political corruption that’s on trial and the Premier is oblivious to the fact that her party is politically corrupt. It was a sad day for Ontario and truly a sorry spectacle that the Premier of our province testified in a trial. No one wants to see the Premier of our province debased or humiliated. Regrettably Kathleen Wynne compounded this with baseless legal threats against me.”

McMaster political scientist Peter Graefe says there has to be some political strategy for Wynne to proceed with the libel notice.

“I think the strategy for Wynne is to say, we can’t trust him with basic facts. To play on people’s uncertainty about Patrick Brown. This may be a way to frame him as someone who would say anything whether it was true or not.”

Graefe says it’s unusual for a politician to sue another, although Kathleen Wynne also sued Brown’s predecessor Tim Hudak in a case that was later dropped.