Northwestel drops libel suit against Whitehorse businessman
Suit alleged Martin Lehner's comments about internet service were defamatory
Northwestel has dropped its defamation lawsuit against a Whitehorse company and its owner.
Last week, lawyers for Northwestel filed a consent order in Yukon Supreme Court suspending the lawsuit against Orange Technology and Martin Lehner.
The suit stemmed from public comments Lehner made last year criticizing Northwestel's internet service in Whitehorse during an interview on CBC Radio in Yukon.
Lehner was being interviewed about internet service in the Whitehorse area, and described complaints he said he had heard from Northwestel customers about frequent outages. Lehner also said those customers had been told by Northwestel there were no plans to fix the problems.
In its statement of claim, Northwestel said parts of Lehner's comments "were untrue, were reckless with respect to its truth and had an improper motive in making the statement."
Lehner's statement of defence said the comments were not defamatory because they were true.
There are no details on why Northwestel suspended the lawsuit.