Former Conservative MP Helena Guergis is filing suit against Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party as well as other individuals. Among other claims she alleges that the party and Harper defamed her.
Guergis was formerly a member of Harper's cabinet. In April 2010 she was forced to leave after allegations were made against both Guergis and her husband Rahim Jaffer. Jaffer also a former MP is joining his wife in the suit.
The suit is against not just Harper and the Conservative party but a host of others associated with Harper including his principal secretary, a law firm, and a former Harper chief of staff. All are alleged to be involved in spreading rumors about Guergis. Among the rumors were that Guergis had used cocaine. There was an even a claim that there was video evidence of this--which was never produced.
Altogether Guergis' suit asks for over a million dollars in compensation. The RCMP eventually cleared Guergis of all charges but she had already resigned from her cabinet post of Minister of State for the Status of Women. The Conservative Party removed her as a candidate in her constituency. Guergis ran as an independent but did not win. For much more see this article.
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Showing posts with label Lawsuit against Conservative Party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lawsuit against Conservative Party. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Alan Riddell: Libel Suit against Conservatives settled out of court
With the Mulroney Schreiber affair dominating the news this seamy episode is mostly beneath the media radar. Harper is probably fortunate in that he will not be asked embarassing questions about this matter. The squeaky clean Harper is beginning to look as if he could use some Mr. Clean and perhaps Lysol disinfectant as well.
Riddell, Alan: lifelong Conservative bullied into dropping out of race and his case for membership wins settlement
Libel suit settled out of court leaving open the question whether Stephen Harper lied
A HarperIndex.ca update. OTTAWA, November 12, 2007: The Canadian Press reported today that the federal Conservative party has quietly settled a lawsuit with Ottawa lawyer Alan Riddell, the former candidate who had accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of libel. The settlement with Riddell, a long-time Conservative activist, suggests the party decided to quietly cut its losses and announce a settlement on the Remembrance Day weekend. It makes Harper's and the party's denials of a deal all the less credible. What follows is the original HarperIndex.ca article.
OTTAWA, October 26, 2007: The Harper Conservatives remain mired in a legal battle with one of their former candidates. Legal costs have forced Ottawa lawyer Alan Riddell to drop his suit against the party for revoking his membership after he sued Stephen Harper and party president Don Plett for libel. The suit followed their denial of a deal the party made with him to withdraw his candidacy in 2006.
Riddell is going ahead with the libel suit, which is expected to go to a jury trial in February.
Riddell was dumped as a candidate in 2005, reportedly over rumours the he wore a World War II German officer's costume to a campus costume party as a student. The deal for him to step aside as a candidate was publicly denied by Harper. "There is no agreement and he hasn't been paid anything," Harper told reporters in December 2005.
In January this year Justice Denis Power of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the agreement valid and legally binding.
Earlier this month, the Ontario Superior Court upheld Stephen Harper's use of Parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying in the case. While this may ultimately enable Harper to win the case, it highlights his contradictions between Harper's stated positions on accountability and his actual practices in the realm of cleaning up politics.
Riddell, Alan: lifelong Conservative bullied into dropping out of race and his case for membership wins settlement
Libel suit settled out of court leaving open the question whether Stephen Harper lied
A HarperIndex.ca update. OTTAWA, November 12, 2007: The Canadian Press reported today that the federal Conservative party has quietly settled a lawsuit with Ottawa lawyer Alan Riddell, the former candidate who had accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of libel. The settlement with Riddell, a long-time Conservative activist, suggests the party decided to quietly cut its losses and announce a settlement on the Remembrance Day weekend. It makes Harper's and the party's denials of a deal all the less credible. What follows is the original HarperIndex.ca article.
OTTAWA, October 26, 2007: The Harper Conservatives remain mired in a legal battle with one of their former candidates. Legal costs have forced Ottawa lawyer Alan Riddell to drop his suit against the party for revoking his membership after he sued Stephen Harper and party president Don Plett for libel. The suit followed their denial of a deal the party made with him to withdraw his candidacy in 2006.
Riddell is going ahead with the libel suit, which is expected to go to a jury trial in February.
Riddell was dumped as a candidate in 2005, reportedly over rumours the he wore a World War II German officer's costume to a campus costume party as a student. The deal for him to step aside as a candidate was publicly denied by Harper. "There is no agreement and he hasn't been paid anything," Harper told reporters in December 2005.
In January this year Justice Denis Power of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the agreement valid and legally binding.
Earlier this month, the Ontario Superior Court upheld Stephen Harper's use of Parliamentary privilege to avoid testifying in the case. While this may ultimately enable Harper to win the case, it highlights his contradictions between Harper's stated positions on accountability and his actual practices in the realm of cleaning up politics.
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