Case information

Judgments and orders — Summary judgments — Torts — Defamation — Anti SLAPP legislation — Respondents bringing action in defamation against applicants for articles published about tobacco industry — Applicants seeking to have action summarily dismissed pursuant to s. 137.1 of Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43 — Where there is no evidence of harm to plaintiff, how should court carry out balancing exercise under s. 137.1(b) — What is threshold for “no valid defence” under s. 137.1(4)(a)(ii) — Whether corporate plaintiff should be treated differently from individual plaintiff when assessing serious harm under s. 137.1(4)(b).

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 2016, the applicants published a three part Publication on the connection between contraband tobacco, organized crime and terrorism in FrontLine Safety and Security Magazine in both electronic and hard copy formats. Mr. Montour and Grand River Enterprises Six Nations Ltd. own and operate Grand River Enterprises (“GRE”) which manufactures tobacco products on the Six Nations Reserve in southern Ontario. GRE is the largest Canadian exporter of tobacco and sells its products internationally. GRE was named in the Publication as a smuggler of contraband tobacco and associated with organized crime. Mr. Montour and GRE brought an action in defamation against the applicants, claiming $27 million in damages as a result of comments made about them in the Publications. Beacon brought a motion under s. 137.1 of the Courts of Justice Act (“CJA”) to have the action summarily dismissed. That motion was dismissed and the decision was upheld on appeal.