Apology for Gordon Wilson

[maryjane48]

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[Veovis]

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[Carrs Landing Viking]

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[mikest2]

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[Cactusflower]

Let's get back on topic. Gordon Wilson doesn't deserve an apology from anyone. And how on earth did he think he could continue sucking on the public teat before someone finally threw him out for good? He's been bouncing around the B.C. political scene for years.

The first I heard of him was when he was with the near-defunct BC Liberal party. He got thrown out when he started an illicit relationship with a married BC Liberal LA (he was married, as well). When Gordon Campbell took over the BC Liberals and brought all his Socred losers with him, Wilson and his lover decided to start their own political party, which inevitably failed. Then he joined up with the NDP during their reign. He dropped out of the political scene until he suddenly appeared in Christy's 2013 campaign, endorsing her and in return, Christy offered him a position in her soon to fail LNG projects.

From 2013 to when the NDP took over in 2017, Wilson accomplished basically nothing as Christy's #1 LNG salesman, so the NDP fired him. The way they did it left much to be desired, but he should learn from his many past mistakes and finally stop using the BC taxpayers as his personal ATM.

[Veovis]

The way they did it left much to be desired,

They could have just fired him and moved on.

Instead they falsely slandered the man publicly.

I don't care if you like him or not, I'm not a fan either, but to state that wronging someone is ok just because you don't like them is the same as stating that because you don't like the fact your neighbor sleeps around then she deserved to be raped.

Not liking an individual does not mean wronging them is ok, the fact you and others advocate this behavior is reprehensible.

[maryjane48]

Him and his wife were sued for defamation .i see this as revenge more than a wrong doing

[Cactusflower]

The way they did it left much to be desired,

They could have just fired him and moved on.

Instead they falsely slandered the man publicly.

I don't care if you like him or not, I'm not a fan either, but to state that wronging someone is ok just because you don't like them is the same as stating that because you don't like the fact your neighbor sleeps around then she deserved to be raped.

Not liking an individual does not mean wronging them is ok, the fact you and others advocate this behavior is reprehensible.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda........
They coulda just fired him and moved on.
He coulda just accepted the fact that he deserved to be fired and moved on.
We coulda just put this topic to bed and moved on........but we didn't.
Let's do it now.

[Rwede]

We coulda just put this topic to bed and moved on........but we didn't.
Let's do it now.

Translated: Horgan and Ralston have breached the Criminal Code of Canada and the BC Libel and Slander Act, but let's just move on, nothing to see here.

Nah, I think the issue needs to be resolved, with Horgan and Ralston ending up penniless, in orange jumpsuits.

[maryjane48]

Wilson and his wife were charged with defamation why you not calling for them to be pennyless rwede ? Hypocrasy is big in that one.


Facts are the wilsons are perpetual victim imposters and they should be charged with wasting court time on frivolus charges

[erinmore3775]

I have been a critic of the previous BC government and I am certainly no supporter of the BC Liberal Party but I do take exception to some statement made in this forum that Gordon "Wilson and his wife were charged with defamation." First of all there were no charges. There was a civil defamation suit brought.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/liberal-strategist-testifies-at-defamation-trial-1.2182971

"Blair Wilson is suing Tyabji Wilson and her company Tugboat Enterprises, as well as The Province newspaper, reporter Elaine O’Connor and blogger Steve Janke for defamation over The Province article, a blog post, and information he alleges was passed to the reporter and Liberal party members to destroy his political career."

http://www.theprovince.com/news/local+news/former+blair+wilson+awarded+24125+2c000+defamation+case/14033504/story.html

The case was resolved in August of this Year. "Former MP Blair Wilson has been awarded $125,000 in damages after a judge found that The Province newspaper defamed him in an article published nearly 10 years ago."

"The judge dismissed Wilson’s claims of defamation in the case against former MLA Judi Tyabji, who Wilson alleged had embarked on a campaign to discredit him.

"[The Judge] found that a former blogger named Steve Janke, who had published an anonymous letter that detailed allegations of election campaign irregularities against Wilson and which was forwarded to Elections Canada, had defamed the plaintiff and found him liable for $15,000 in damages."

The suit failed with respect to Judi Tyabji and I can not find any reference that Gordon Wilson (Tyabji's husband) was involved in the case. If I am wrong, please provide references.

While some here believe Gordon Wilson is a court time waster, Horgan and Ralston appear to have breached the BC Libel and Slander Act. Therefore, he has the right to sue for damages. Horgan and Ralston spoke without checking their fact, failed to check with their own Cabinet documents, and sought to make political hay with the firing of Gordon Wilson. Their apologies were too late and had no credence.

[OldIslander]

While some here believe Gordon Wilson is a court time waster, Horgan and Ralston appear to have breached the BC Libel and Slander Act. Therefore, he has the right to sue for damages. Horgan and Ralston spoke without checking their fact, failed to check with their own Cabinet documents, and sought to make political hay with the firing of Gordon Wilson. Their apologies were too late and had no credence.

It's nice to read a thoughtfully written opinion, complete with source material.

Regarding Horgan & Ralston's libel, I don't believe there is a single poster in this thread who has argued that there was no libel.

Some here have suggested that this affair is a criminal matter -- utterly wrong. Only in very rare cases, where a person is intentionally going to great lengths, to severely harm the reputation of others, does "criminal libel" fit -- like this guy:

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/author/na/bayfield-man-faces-rare-criminal-libel-charge-9426/

Defamation actions are lawsuits launched in the Supreme Court. It is highly unlikely that Wilson's suit will ever see the light of day. First, as many other posters here have alleged, Horgan & Ralston didn't lie -- they believed at the time, what they said was true, based on bad information. Within hours of learning their info was bad, they formally and publicly apologized to Wilson. This does not forgive their defamation -- they should have checked their source info more carefully, or simply not said anything at all. But typically, an immediate public apology will greatly reduce the amount of damages awarded by the court.

What effect does an apology have?
A newspaper or a TV or radio station that publishes or broadcasts a libel can limit the amount of the damages they may have to pay by publishing or broadcasting an apology right away.

If this does go go court, Wilson will have to prove damage to his reputation. Horgan & Ralston's lawyers will have a field day with this, pointing out that he didn't do any real work in this patronage position -- there is public information out there, strongly suggesting this. Also that his reputation was terrible before the libel, and that Horgan & Ralston's comments didn't really cause any further damage to it, than Wilson has caused himself over the years.

There will likely be a small quiet settlement out of court, and that will be the end of it.

(I am non-partisan, in that I disdain most politicians equally, whatever their proclivities...)

[The Green Barbarian]

Facts are the wilsons are perpetual victim imposters and they should be charged with wasting court time on frivolus charges

Translation - if this had been the BC Liberals libeling an NDP goofball, you'd be demanding that they not only resign, but be put in jail. If it's an NDP goofball doing the libelling, then it's attack the victim. So disgusting.

[The Green Barbarian]

Let's get back on topic. Gordon Wilson doesn't deserve an apology from anyone. .

Of course he does. He was libelled. It's pretty obvious he deserves an apology, and a big payout, that should come right out of fat-mouth Horgan's pocket.

[Urban Cowboy]

Facts are the wilsons are perpetual victim imposters and they should be charged with wasting court time on frivolus charges

Translation - if this had been the BC Liberals libeling an NDP goofball, you'd be demanding that they not only resign, but be put in jail. If it's an NDP goofball doing the libelling, then it's attack the victim. So disgusting.

Disgusting is what the "D" in NDP stands for.

After all we know it sure as heck doesn't stand for Democratic, given the way they are behaving.