April 29, 2009


Fasken Martineau litigation counsel have recently appeared in two Supreme Court of Canada appeals that are widely expected to result in landmark decisions on the rights of mass media under defamation law.

Peter Downard, Catherine Wiley and Dawn Robertson appeared before the Supreme Court in Grant v. Torstar Corporation on April 23, 2009 as counsel to the appellants, Peter Grant and Grant Forest Products Inc. In February, Peter, Catherine and Dawn appeared as interveners in a companion Supreme Court case, Quan v. Cusson.

The central issue in both appeals is whether Canadian law should recognize a qualified privilege for defamatory statements in mass media, and the limits that should be imposed on any privilege in order to protect individual interests in reputation and privacy. The Supreme Court is expected to release its decisions in the cases later this year.

Peter, Catherine and Dawn are members of Fasken Martineau's defamation counsel group. Peter has published widely in the field, including Defamation in Halsbury's Laws of Canada, to be published this year, and the legal text Libel, which has been quoted as authority in numerous court decisions. Peter, Catherine and Dawn regularly advise and act as counsel in a wide range of defamation matters.