The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled a contractor must pay $1.5 million for “a campaign of defamation” against a competitor. .According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this penalty is among Canada's largest ever given for internet libel..“The most broadly circulated publications were made on websites and blogs,” wrote Justice Andrew Mayer. .“It is arguable that defamation carried out over the internet may be more damaging to reputation than defamation carried out by other means because of the possibility that the publications will be seen by a broader audience.”.Valley Traffic Group Ltd. of Langley, BC, was ordered to pay $1.5 million, including punitive damages plus costs to a rival Ansan Traffic Group Ltd. and its director Raoul Malak. .In 2012 and 2013, the company slandered Ansan Traffic as a Mafia front and published caricatures of Malak in prison stripes. .The motive behind this defamation was their competition over a lucrative government contract..“We were under attack,” testified Malak. .“I knew this was going to harm us for a long time to come. It was absolutely shocking. I am still shocked.”.“People said if it’s written, it must be true,” testified Malak. .“I think that’s the assumption we were dealing with, that we were very worried some procurement managers or directors would be influenced by that.”.“When you are accused of being a drug dealer or a money launderer or a pimp, it’s no joke,” testified Malak. .“These are very serious allegations.”.Evidence showed Valley Traffic posted articles on fake corporate websites alleging its rival was “involved with organized crime,” engaged in bribery, was “involved in kickback schemes” and other illegality, then emailed links to the websites to business associates with comments like, “I just saw this — unreal!” and “juicy stuff!”.Evidence showed Valley Traffic managers used a pseudonym to email then-Premier Christy Clark with a message marked “private and confidential” that repeated its slander and stated: “I write you today to blow the whistle on a potential scandal of very large magnitude.”.After a 10-year legal battle, the damages were awarded..“Harm to reputation is presumed from the mere publication of a defamatory falsehood,” wrote Justice Mayer. .“Such harm arises even though it is not shown that a single person familiar with the plaintiff has read the defamatory words or, if they read them, did not believe that they were true.”.Canadian courts have granted larger awards for libel cases, but these usually are to television broadcasts rather than internet posts or blogs..In 2022, the Manitoba Court of King's Bench ruled that CBC must pay $1.95 million in damages and costs to a Winnipeg investment advisor they had falsely accused of being unethical..Defamation awards in Canada typically average $63,000 with a “small number of cases per year,” the Canadian Bar Review wrote in 2017. .In 2008, Sky Service Airlines was ordered to pay a record $3 million for falsely slandering a fired pilot as a “drunk” and spreading this lie to rival airlines to prevent him from getting hired.
