Lawson wins suit AGAINST BAINES
Now what?
Arctic Oil ex Lawson wins $30,000 defamation award
2011-03-18 20:17 ET - Street Wire
Also Street Wire (C-CGS) CanWest Global Communications Corp
by Mike Caswell
Formersenator Edward Lawson has won his libel case against The VancouverSun's David Baines, with the judge finding that Mr. Baines defamed Mr.Lawson in a 2008 column. The decision, handed down on Friday, March 18,by Supreme Court Justice Robert Sewell, awards Mr. Lawson $30,000 ingeneral damages. Although the judge called the general damages award"significant," it fell short of the $100,000 that Mr. Lawson had sought.
Thedecision comes after a 12-day trial held in September and October,2010, at the Vancouver courthouse, during which Mr. Lawson argued thatMr. Baines's story unfairly linked him with stock fraudsters Ed Carterand David Ward. Among other things, the story stated that Mr. Lawsonprovided the promoters with free flights on a Teamsters jet and receivedshares in rigged companies.
Mr. Baines, for his part, argued thatthe facts of his story were true. During the trial, he presentedevidence that Mr. Lawson had traded in five or six Carter-Ward companiesand had served as a director of one. The trial also heard muchtestimony about Mr. Carter and Mr. Ward's presence on the Teamsters jet.
Justice Sewell's decision
Inhis 19-page decision, Justice Sewell found that the sting of the libelagainst Mr. Lawson was the inference that the former senator providedMr. Carter and Mr. Ward with free travel on the Teamsters jet in returnfor free shares. The story would cause an ordinary reader to infer thatMr. Lawson "did play an active role in the Carter Ward scheme" and thathe "did abuse his office" as a Teamsters official.
While thedefence spent a significant portion of the 12-day trial trying to provethe literal meaning of the words in the story, the evidence it presentedwas mostly irrelevant, the judge ruled. He found that the case turnedon the meaning that an ordinary reader would glean from the column,which is that Mr. Lawson was corrupt. This means that many hours oftestimony and court time had little bearing on the general damagesaward.
Specifically, the judge said that two lines in Mr. Baines'sstory created the defamatory meaning. They stated: "Lawson alsosuffered the embarrassment of being identified as a close associate ofEd Carter, who along with partner David Ward was caught in a huge stockbribery scam in the mid-1980s. Evidence at the criminal trial of Carterand Ward was that the two promoters gave Lawson shares of their riggedcompanies, and Lawson flew them, often free of charge, on the Teamstersexecutive jet he had at his disposal."
The defence had contendedthat the story was about Arctic Oil and not about Mr. Lawson, but thejudge was not swayed by this argument. He agreed that the great majorityof the column focused on Arctic Oil and the questionable nature of thecompany, but "I do not see how that argument advances the defendants'case," he wrote. The column essentially argued that Arctic Oil was astock scam, and the comments about Mr. Lawson supported that argument.
Whilethe judge decided the case in Mr. Lawson's favour, he found that the81-year-old former senator was an unreliable witness. During the trial,his testimony frequently differed from documentary evidence. In oneinstance, he denied being a director of former Vancouver Stock Exchangelisting Tye Explorations Inc., when documents showed that he had been.Justice Sewell did not attribute his unreliability to any attempt tomislead the court, however. "Rather I have concluded that his ability torecall past events has deteriorated to the point that it can no longerbe relied upon," the decision reads.
Also unreliable, although fordifferent reasons, was the evidence of Mr. Carter, who testified aboutflights on the Teamsters jet. The judge said Mr. Carter's evidence wasself-serving, and he was "extremely egocentric and anxious, even at thislate date, to justify his actions of 25 years ago." (Securing histestimony was a significant matter during the trial, as the judge had toadjourn the hearing for three weeks while lawyers for both sides flewto Toronto to set up a video conference with the 85-year-old promoter.When he finally testified, he laid most of the blame for his past legalproblems on his former partner, Mr. Ward, who was murdered in 1997.)
Unlikethe others, the testimony of Mr. Baines, as described in the decision,was honest and forthright. The judge said he had no hesitation inrelying upon it.
When it came to damages, the judge said that Mr.Baines imputed "serious misconduct" on Mr. Lawson, which requiredsomething more than a nominal award. He also took into consideration thefact that Mr. Lawson sought an apology and retraction, but The Sunrefused.
Although the judge granted Mr. Lawson general damages, heturned down the former senator's request for an extra award of $25,000to $50,000 in aggravated damages. Mr. Lawson had argued that Mr. Bainespublished the column out of malice, or with an intent to injure hisreputation. Justice Sewell disagreed, and found that Mr. Baines wrotethe column with a view to informing the public about a questionablestock promotion, that of pink sheets listing Arctic Oil & Gas Corp.
Thejudge made no ruling on costs in the case, although The Sun willpresumably have to pay a portion of Mr. Lawson's legal bill. At theconclusion of the trial, both sides sought and received permission tomake submissions on costs after the judgment.
North Vancouverlibel specialist Roger McConchie represented Mr. Lawson, and VancouverSun lawyer Rob Anderson represented Mr. Baines.
The otherdefendants in the case were Vancouver Sun employees Hugh Dawson,Patricia Graham, Kirk LaPointe and Kevin Bent, as well as CanwestPublishing Inc., the paper's owner at the time of the story.
Reader Comments - Comments are open to paying subscribers of Stockwatch and unmoderated,although libelous remarks, obscene language and impersonations may be deleted.Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Stockwatch.
For information regarding Canadian libel law, please view theUniversity of Ottawa's FAQ regarding Defamation and SLAPPs.
Well done Lawson! You were in the right all the time and stuck to your guns! A true canadian.
Posted by Rayat 2011-03-18 21:42
I am a big fan of Baines' column, but always felt itwould be only a matter of time before his inferrential and prejudicialundertone would catch up with him. Keep shining the light David; but letthe readers pass their own judgement.
Posted by Sammyat 2011-03-20 12:24
baines hasn't bothered printing about canwest'sdebacle, where baines himself benefited from some exorbitant salary, orthe trinity western university tax scheme where many a canwest employeewas implicated..........
Posted by strangeat 2011-03-21 09:32
does anyone read his column anymore? he has provenin his writing to know exactly what a bank teller would know about themarket. One day he will realize he had his strings pulled by many amanipulator.
Posted by trollat 2011-03-21 09:57
listen, if baines knew anything about the market hewould have already written about the HA and their market dealings andnamed some of the brokers who work with those HA, until then he's in thedark, you reading this know more than he does on what is going on.
Posted by ?triple secat 2011-03-21 10:20
Baines has always added hie personal feelings to hisarticles, either write about the stock, or write about the person,Baines is always pushing a personal note when writing about companies,adding his personal feelings of individuals which do not need to bementioned in the article.
Posted by Bewilderedat 2011-03-21 13:01
I have not read Baines for over a decade. He is atbest, a hack writer who is not in the least objective. As to his actualknowledge of how a market works, he has never convinced me that he trulyunderstands the game. That being said, I would imagine that if ever;now would be an excellent time to start reading him again. Perhaps thisadventure will be sufficient to bring some sanity and balance to hiswriting. I do understand that decades ago he was held in high esteem byhis peers. And perhaps he can re-capture some of his past glory andstyle, thereby elevating his screed to a level worth my reading time.
Posted by Anomander Rakeat 2011-03-21 14:47
Looks like Judge/Juror/Executioner Baines met hismatch and got his wrist slapped by a real judge. How else was the Masterof Inference going to get knocked down a few pegs for his "journalism."
Posted by OTCBBat 2011-03-21 21:47
@ Anomander Rake
Into the breach (someone has to do it).
I have not read Baines for over a decade.
Aweel, I’d venture to suggest that it’s been a bit more than a decadesince you’ve read much of anything, as your grasp of the current usageof the English language is not only abysmal, it’s appalling.
As to his actual knowledge of how a market works, he has never convinced me that he truly understands the game.
I’d venture to suggest that it’s been a wee bit more than a decadesince you’ve understood much of anything, so your knowledge of the waythe markets work currently is not of much use, is it?
That being said, I would imagine that if ever; now would be an excellent time to start reading him again.
Erm...Anom, buying a bucket of commas, etc. is of little use if youalso didn’t buy the how-to video. If you read the same way as you write(can you spell dyslexic?), reading Baines’s columns in the Sun wouldleave you mystified, envious and in the dust.
That being said, I would imagine that if ever; now would be an excellent time to start reading him again.
Not unless you’ve paid for (and attended) Remedial Reading 001.
I do understand that decades ago he was held in high esteem by hispeers. And perhaps he can re-capture some of his past glory and style,thereby elevating his screed to a level worth my reading time.
You go, anom. Why is it that I think that, decades ago, you thoughtthat you were held in low esteem by your peers for reading the skidmarks on your screed?
Posted by halcrowat 2011-03-21 22:34
If the Sun carried this decision as a news item it should have been under the title 'Judge Jolts Jerk Journalism'.
Posted by Cyrilat 2011-03-22 00:44
Baines provides a valuable service to the market byactually caring about it and doing some solid research. He has a senseof humor too. I enjoy his column, usually.
Unfortunately, his tone is typically snide and derisive, which, whenmixed with his arrogant disdain for the Vancouver Stock Exchange, paintseveryone he writes about with a slimy brush. Because Canada's libelawards are so minuscule, he gets away with a character assault withlittle fear of consequence. It's simply not worth suing.
If Baines was more balanced in his writing, and from time to timewrote about all the good people doing good things with penny stocks, hewould have more credibility. Lately, he is on a crusade against theOTCBB, calling it "dreadful," as if no proper and good businesses arelisted there, which of course is complete nonsense.
Baines likes to unfairly taint his subjects by linking them to knownmarket offenders and inferring guilt by association. That is meanspirited and wrong. Hopefully he will learn a lesson here, but I doubtit.
Posted by Nameat 2011-03-22 00:58
Looks like these anti-Baines comments are all by the same person, or maybe two persons. Hmmm?
Posted by Skidmarkat 2011-03-22 01:37
I would opine that the pro-Baines comments must have been submitted by his family members.
Posted by Cyrilat 2011-03-22 02:40
Baines' column is simply an opinion column, if hereports any facts within the opinion piece the facts are always wrong.His opinion is not based on any market experience nor from the tone ofhis writing is it from any experience as a market trader. The fact hewas a simple bank teller shows in his understanding of marketcomplexities and is revealed in his writing. Call any listed company andyou are sure on some occassion to have a simpleton answer and promoteyou about a company stock and have no idea on what they are talkingabout. Those are situations that deserve exposure, but Baines couldn'ttell a real deal from a sham deal. If you have his ear, you can pull thestrings easier than a guitar. And from his writings, most of the peoplewho have his ear have never bought a stock or called a listed companyin their life.
Posted by parker toutsuiteat 2011-03-22 08:29
mr baines is an ambulance chaser
every newspaper has one
mostly they tend to be failed journalists or those with little ambition or imagination
as one other writer noted, many good things and persons come out oftsx entities. most of the largest mining discoveries in the world inthe last fifty years have been located or financed by canadians orcanadian companies and many if not most of those were from peopleassociated with vancouver or who have ties with vancouver
this year i have seen more than in any other single year ofexploration for a long time which tells me there are going to be others
instead, we have to read about some scoundrel who was shot deadtwenty years ago or some low level bulletin board promoter who stole afew thousand dollars from some greedy shareholders or people too lazy orstupid to do any due diligence of their own
meanwhile, some of us continue to invest substantially and to prosperhandsomely from the hard work of tireless canadian promoters who giveus an opportunity to buy shares at .25 and sell them often at ten times,twenty times or even higher multiples of our original investment
frankly, the risk to any sophisticated investor is minimal. if youare a novice, then be careful, just as in any business venture.
i don't need some person who has never invested one cent in any stockin his life pretending that he can tell me or anyone else how thingswork or how they should work.
they simply don't know, and never will.
i look forward this exploration season to making more money than atany other time in my career, thanks almost entirely to TSX and TSXVpromoters, brokers and financiers.
good luck to all!
Posted by birdcatat 2011-03-22 17:33
it is about time that the courts realized that davidbaines does very little research for his column.evrything he writes isbogus
Posted by johnny be goodat 2011-03-22 22:41
Baines is a first-rate reporter. The other guy's pockets are stretched out of shape.
Posted by Well-formed HTML formattingat 2011-03-23 04:10
mr baines is nothing more than an over the hillnever was who discovered only too late that his columns are mostly anafterthought to business readers, or something which they accidentlystumbled across whilst searching for another more meaningful story inthe newspaper
it is most amusing to observe him attempting to feign comaradariewith those now very wealthy and highly regarded industry executives whomhe once roundly and repeatedly criticized while they were successfullypioneering what is now the premier worldwide investment vehicle formining finance in spite of his vain and vain efforts to slow theirentrepreneurial instincts
good luck with trying that
turns out the tsxv is just about the best place to be on the entire planet for leverage and windfall profits
little did mr baines know we would be enjoying the highest commodityprices in history and that the promoters, brokers and investors would bereaping world record profits while he continues to punch a clock overat the press building
not that i have anything against union workers
i think it was mr brown himself who said that 'the best revenge is living well'
Posted by johnny be badat 2011-03-23 21:56