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From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now.
From the executive council to Crombie’s bus, one would-be Liberal leader is adding muscle. The drama isn’t over yet in Erskine-Smith v. Maggi. Amendments loom at the Tories’ convention. But before we dig in, the Liberal caucus will take a key vote later today.
What we’re watching: We await to learn who’ll temporarily take up the mantle from Bonnie Crombie, who quit as Liberal leader last week. A vote on an interim leader is expected at a caucus meeting later today.
Once that call is made, the executive — along with riding association presidents — will follow with a formal approval process.
Who’s who: John Fraser has done it twice before, though sources say a meeting last week ended without clarity on whether he’d return for a third time. (Privately, Fraser had wanted a say in the leadership contest, but serving as interim leader would almost certainly require neutrality.)
Beyond Fraser, Stephanie Bowman and Adil Shamji are among the names we heard circulate over the weekend.
That said: The list of actual contenders is being kept quiet (take it from this reporter), with Fraser still expected to be a strong favourite.
Next stop, appeal — Quito Maggi says he’s planning to challenge a judge’s decision to side with Nate Erskine-Smith in his defamation case.
Recall: The ex-Liberal leadership candidate sued the CEO of Mainstreet Research over a tweet posted in the heat of the last leadership contest, in which he alleged that Erskine-Smith — seeking the Beaches-East York federal nomination in 2014 — personally threatened voters by saying their “permanent residency status would be impacted if they tried to vote.” Erskine-Smith said the allegation “may have negatively influenced” his run for Liberal leader, where he placed second to Bonnie Crombie.
Now, a judge says the tweet crossed the line and damaged Erskine-Smith’s reputation, awarding $25,000 in damages.
The decision: In a Friday decision, Deputy Judge Hank Witteveen said the “plain meaning” of the tweet was that minorities were told their residency status would be impacted if they voted — and that Erskine-Smith was personally involved. That allegation, the judge wrote, was enough to lower Erskine-Smith’s reputation in the eyes of a reasonable person and wasn’t borne out by the evidence presented to the court.
While Maggi argued the tweet was based on reporting and information he said came from campaign sources, the judge rejected that defence. “To succeed on the defence of justification, a defendant must adduce evidence that the statement is substantially true,” he cited, before concluding Maggi was was “foolhardy in making the statement” and “failed in his duty to properly investigate the truth” of it.
While the judge accepted the nomination contest was a matter of public interest, he found Maggi, despite believing the allegation to be true at the time he posted it, took “no appropriate steps to verify” the allegation — either at the time or years later when the tweet was posted. “If, as the defendant says, there were witnesses who reported that a bald headed lawyer was making threats about the residency status of his voters, you would expect that the names of these persons would be recorded along with the full particulars of what they were saying,” he wrote.
That said: Though Erskine-Smith argued the tweet implied criminal behaviour, the judge disagreed. Instead, he described it as portraying “a threatening way to suppress voting.”
The judge said there was little evidence pointing to Maggi’s motive, finding the tweet appeared aimed at giving his side of the story, rather than to damage Erskine-Smith’s reputation.
While the judge noted Maggi never retracted the tweet or apologized, he declined to award aggravated damages, but concluded Maggi’s failure to verify the allegation doomed his defence and warranted $25,000.
Witteveen emphasized Erskine-Smith’s public standing in assessing damages. “I consider that [his] standing as a lawyer and elected Member of Parliament should be considered very highly,” he wrote, adding that defamatory statements are likely to have “a more significant impact” on someone in his position.
What they’re saying: “Truth matters,” said Erskine-Smith in a statement. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where some people think they can say anything about others. It’s especially important to ensure accountability for false statements of fact. This defamation judgment does just that.”
Maggi argues, while the court’s decision was flawed both in law and logic, the truth “will be known, eventually, whether [Erskine-Smith] wins on a flawed small claims logical or legal argument or not.”
He added: “Our appeal to the appropriate court will bear this out.”
Full disclosure: POLICORNER has worked with Mainstreet Research, including during the last provincial campaign.
— The House is out.
— Up at committee
— Fundraising watch: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Cooper is hosting a $1,000-a-ticket fundraiser in Toronto. RSVP.
On Thursday, Rob Cerjanec, Adil Shamji and Stephanie Smyth will be in Lincoln for a $35-a-ticket New Year’s Levee. RSVP.
— Also happening:
Eyes up: The riding is currently held by Neil Lumsden, who is said to be weighing retirement. Catch up.
— SCOOP — An executive council member, a New Leaf and an ex-Crombie aide are coming aboard Nate Erskine-Smith’s soon-to-be leadership campaign.
Hunter Knifton is expected to take on a senior role for Erskine-Smith. Knifton, a party vice-president, recused himself from leadership contest-related business to back a candidate, sources say.
Nathaniel Arfin — a co-founder of the group that organized to oust Crombie (while insisting it wasn’t linked to Erskine-Smith) — has also joined Team Nate. It’s not his first go-round: he worked on the same campaign in the last contest.
The group says it will stay neutral, even as individual members are free to get involved. They wrote: “The New Leaf Liberals are encouraged by the wide variety of potential candidates this leadership race will attract, and are excited to help the new leader, whoever they end up being, create a party capable of fighting Doug Ford’s managed decline and winning the next election.”
Plus: Bahoz Dara Aziz — the former Crombie spokesperson now at Navigator — is expected to join Erskine-Smith’s campaign. (By the way: Dara Aziz was on the bus with Crombie during the campaign.)
Elsewhere: Clare Graham is expected to run Vik Handa’s leadership campaign.
Meanwhile: The executive council met yesterday, with no word yet on the rules. (Our sources weren’t expecting much to come out of Sunday’s meeting.)
— SCOOP — Sean Torrie has replaced Milton Chan and Jack Siegel as the constitution committee’s chair.
Recall: Executive council had voted to term out Chan and Siegel’s mandate in December. Sources say the call was made with neutrality in mind, as both Chan and Siegel are expected to take sides in the upcoming leadership contest. Catch up.
— Convention watch: Debate over a series of proposed constitutional changes is expected at the Tories’ annual convention in Toronto next weekend.
Among them: A proposal from Caroline Mulroney to guarantee Francophone representation among the nine vice-presidents, and another that would create a code of conduct for the membership.
— Ford v. Beijing: Premier Ford is warning that Canada’s new EV deal with China will give Chinese manufacturers a leg up in the market — at the expense of domestic workers. More from CBC.
John Michael McGrath says Ford’s real problem is tanking sales.
— Martin Regg Cohn asks when Ford last faced serious, sustained opposition from a Liberal leader with a seat. “Answer: Been a while,” he writes.
— Election watch: Most Canadians are not opposed to the idea of another federal election, according to Abacus Data, only if it’s sold as necessary for political stability. “Support is highest in Ontario and Atlantic Canada, and among younger Canadians, but remains above opposition levels in every region.” Read on.
— Trash talk: Ontario’s privatized recycling will stop picking up extra bags and boxes outside blue boxes in some communities — a move, according to one mayor, that could drive more waste into the garbage. The Star has more.
Meanwhile, some residents were told they’d need to pay for new recycling bins.
— Homelessness is surging in rural and northern Ontario, according to a new report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, which found 85,000 people homeless last year. That’s an eight per cent jump from the year before.
The surge in rural communities is stretching local capacity.
— The squeeze: “Ontario colleges are staring down a structural deficit as high as $1.5 billion — coming amid huge losses in revenue from international students — warning the ’severe financial strain’ could lead to more job and program cuts.”
Elsewhere, the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital costs are climbing about six per cent each year, while funding growth has averaged closer to four per cent.
— Clocking in: “Female family physicians in Ontario spend 15 to 20 per cent more time with patients than their male colleagues for the same pay, a new study suggests.” CBC has the story.
— Going nuclear: “In the race to prepare for an electrified future of AI, data centres, EVs and heat pumps, Ontario has placed a big bet on nuclear… But the promise of nuclear power is tempered by the potential for peril.” Dig in.
— Automation nation: Toronto Police are turning to AI to deal with non-emergency calls.
— Benched: “An Ontario judge who was accused of sexual assault and assault has been found to have engaged in judicial misconduct.” More from CBC.
— No bill for Enbridge: The Ford government says it’s not considering changing a law that bars municipalities from billing Enbridge Gas for building pipelines on public land. The Narwhal has the latest.
— Noted: Premier Doug Ford says he’s “deeply concerned” about “the rising death toll in Iran at the hands of government forces.” “I stand with the people of Iran against tyranny and in support of a peaceful, free and democratic future for their country,” he said on X.
— Noted: What issue does Donna Skelly want front and centre during Hamilton’s upcoming mayoral race?
— Noted: An ex-Liberal candidate is gearing up for a mayoral bid in Milton.
— Seen: Ex-PC MPP Goldie Ghamari telling Cenk Uygur to “keep [his] mouth shut” on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Stephen Lecce in 2016.
At Next Campaign on Thursday: Travis Dhanraj, Karman Wong and I look ahead to the future of journalism and digital campaigning.
Kory Teneycke and Marco Mendocino talk about the relationship with Washington.
On the roam: Mike Crawley, Eric Lombardi, Rob Cerjanec, Lee Fairclough, Sara Singh, Erin Morrsion, Melanie Paradis, Kim Wright, Rebecca Bozzato, Kathryn McGarry, Josh Matlow, Jamal Meyers, Parthi Kandavel, Karina Gould, Darryn McCarthur, Blue Knox, Miles Hopper, Clare Graham, Fares Al Soud, Laura Pennel, Perry Tsergas, David Valentin, Joseph Angolano, Dan Arnold, Laura Walton and more.
— Over in Liberal land: Rob Cerjanec and Jennifer McKelvie hosted a New Year’s Levee at St. Nedela’s Church on Saturday.
Mike Crawley hosted his own event in Toronto on Wednesday.
— In memoriam: Former NDP MPP Evelyn Gigantes has died. Gigantes, described by Marit Stiles as a “force of nature,” was 83. “Her courage and her refusal to stay quiet made a real difference in this province that we still feel today,” said Stiles.
Thank you for reading POLICORNER. Are you the fly on the wall in that Liberal caucus meeting? Where do you land on the Nate v. Quito beef? Hit me up and I’ll keep you anonymous, just like those sources you’re curious about.
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