The Western Standard will be initiating a defamation lawsuit against "political fixer" David Wallace for false allegations he made about the publication. .The defamation started when an alleged sexual assault victim of Calgary City Coun. Sean Chu commented on a post of Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt with Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz. The alleged victim said Fildebrandt runs articles supporting Chu and former Alberta justice minister Jonathan Denis. .Wallace wrongfully said Denis sat on the Western Standard’s board. He alleged since Shane Home Living President and CEO Shane Wenzel contributes articles to the publication, he controls it. .The fixer made a false allegation that the Western Standard and Fildebrandt are “a bunch of criminals and pedo supporters.”.“Your publication is unjustifiable in any manner and severely defamatory,” said Ruttan Bates lawyer Michael Bates, who was retained as counsel by the Western Standard, in a Wednesday demand letter to Wallace. .Bates said it is obvious “you are falsely publishing to the world that my clients support pedophilia and therefore by definition, the serious harm to children.” .Wallace’s tweet has been retweeted by people with thousands of followers. Bates said while his clients are justified in taking legal action against Wallace, they hope he will “take the opportunity to correct course and minimize the harm that you have already caused.” .The letter said if he wants to resolve the dispute, he has to delete the tweet and never publish or repeat the allegations to anyone. It said he will have to publish an apology for one month as a pinned tweet to his Twitter and other social media accounts. .Within 15 days of accepting this offer, he will pay the Western Standard $4,000 to cover legal fees and other costs incurred from this matter. .“Time is of the essence to mitigate the harm being actively caused to my clients,” said Bates. .“As such, this offer is open for acceptance until Nov. 10, 2022 at 4 pm MST.”.Fildebrandt said Wallace will be facing litigation if he does not meet the conditions. .“Your comments are defamatory & false,” he said. .“Retract & apologize, or get sued.”.Calgary police began investigating a plot Wallace was the leading character in called Operation Peacock on Nov. 3, which aimed to entrap former mayor Naheed Nenshi with the promise of Russian dark money..READ MORE: Calgary police investigating plot to entrap Nenshi with Russian money.At issue is a 2019 letter co-signed by former Calgary city councillor Joe Magliocca and Chu. .It is addressed to Russian Consul General in Toronto Kirill Mikhaylov and former Russian economic development minister Sergei Strokov. The letter was cced to Wallace..Wallace could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
