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NPA director and lawyer Wesley Mussio accused the mayor of using his power “to attack his political opponents”.
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Dan Fumano, Mayor of Vancouver, Kennedy Stewart, in front of City Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia, October 30, 2019. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG Content of the article
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart denied defaming his political rivals in the Non-Partisan Association, arguing that his statements were justified and that he had a duty as mayor to speak out against racism and intolerance.
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Seven current and past members of the NPA board filed a lawsuit in February, alleging they were vilified by a January press release from Stewart calling on the NPA to condemn racism and claiming party leaders had “so far failed to stop the spread of hatred. within their party.
The statement followed months of reporting on the conduct and statements of some NPA directors, which had drawn public criticism from many, including the party’s own elected city councilors, most of whom have since left. the party after raising concerns about the board.
In the weeks leading up to Stewart’s January press release, NPA executives declined to answer questions from Postmedia News and The Tyee about one of its newly appointed directors, who resigned shortly after the board. The NPA then issued a statement attacking the Postmedia and Tyee reports. A day later, Stewart issued his press release, which the NPA directors tried to amount to “hate speech against his opposition for political ends.”
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Stewart’s denial, in a response filed earlier this month to the BC Supreme Court, lists several legal arguments as to why his comments were not defamatory – his statement was a fair comment as a phrase opinion on matters of public interest, published without malice and based on fact. , and his public statements were justified because they were substantially true.
Stewart’s response also says that as mayor of Vancouver, he has a social and moral duty to promote tolerance in the city, and to “cry out and denounce the silence that could be interpreted” as tolerance of intolerance. .
Stewart’s response indicates that his January statement was about the NPA board’s turn to the political right and, at that time, the NPA board “was not dispelling, denying, denying, debunking. or otherwise “responded to public concerns about party leadership.”
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The plaintiffs include the chairman of the NPA, David Mawhinney, and past and current directors of the party’s board of directors – Christopher Wilson, David Pasin, Phyllis Tang, Angelo Isidorou, Federico Fuoco and Wesley Mussio, who is also a lawyer and the one who filed the libel suit. .
Last October, a few weeks before Mussio joined the NPA board, he launched a separate court application to remove Green Coun. Michael Wiebe, a political opponent of the NPA, out of office due to an alleged conflict of interest. That petition was dismissed in July and Wiebe remains on the board, but Mussio is seeking to appeal the decision.
In an emailed statement Thursday, Mussio said that Stewart’s “suggestion of a right-shift by the NPA board is clearly wrong. Indeed, the board is made up of individuals of all political stripes, including individuals on the left.
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“We all know the mayor was not happy with an NPA press release the day before regarding the mayor’s lack of action to resolve issues with the city of Vancouver,” Mussio said. “The mayor then decided to use his power and the resources of the city of Vancouver to attack his political opponents.
Joined Thursday, Stewart said he was paying his own legal bills at this point. He declined to answer further questions while the case was in court.
Stewart’s attorney, David F. Sutherland, declined to comment as the case continued.
The libel suit originally included the city of Vancouver as a co-defendant, but the city was removed in August as a defendant.
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