Court orders National Post to pay $50,000 for defaming scientist Andrew Weaver
Andrew Weaver says he was "absolutely thrilled" to learn that a BC judge had upheld his defamation suit against the National Post. "This has been five long years and, to get complete vindication, I was just ecstatic."...
Andrew Weaver says he was "absolutely thrilled" to learn that a BC judge had upheld his defamation suit against the National Post. "This has been five long years and, to get complete vindication, I was just ecstatic."
Weaver is now a Green Party MLA in the BC legislature but he was a climate scientist at the University of British Columbia when the newspaper published a series of columns about him. The columns suggested that Weaver distorted scientific data, was undermining colleagues, and that he had attempted to blame a break-in at his office on the fossil fuel industry.
Included in the legal action are National Post publisher Gordon Fisher and columnists Terence Corcoran, Kevin Libin and Peter Foster.
As the judge points out, there was no substance to that. It was just complete fabrication. The judge also ordered the newspaper to publish a retraction and to remove the stories from its online edition.
Take a listen to Weaver's interview with As It Happens to hear more about the case and his reaction to the win.