A judge’s dismissal of a $6 million defamation lawsuit against Mayor Rob Ford should be seen as a victory for both free speech and political discourse, says Ford’s defence lawyer.
Gavin Tighe made the comment to CP24 on Friday afternoon, one day after Justice John Macdonald ruled that Boardwalk Cafe Owner George Foulidis failed to meet the "essential aspects" required for a defamation claim.
Foulidis was arguing that his reputation was sullied when Ford told the Toronto Sun that a deal to extend his east-end restaurant’s lease of public land without entertaining other offers "stinks to high heaven” during a 2010 interview.
“Freedom of speech is of course one of the most fundamental rights that every citizen has and in in the context of political discourse that becomes even more important,” Tighe said. “It is important to have freedom of speech and freedom of expression in a political campaign, so people can judge for themselves which candidates they will vote for and which candidates they won’t vote for.”
During the trial, Ford said that he wasn’t suggesting that the deal to extend Foulidis’s lease by 20 years was illegal - just that it didn’t follow protocol.
Speaking with CP24 Friday, Tighe reiterated that viewpoint.
“Don’t the citizens have the right to know that someone is concerned about a particular issue? I think that politicians should speak about the issues they are concerned about,” he said. “The word stinky or smells is really just a euphemism for ‘something doesn’t feel right about this.’ It’s just an expression that people use.”
"It's great news," Ford said on Friday of the dismissal. "I knew I was right, and I'm glad the judge saw eye to eye with my lawyers and myself."
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