Cherneskey v. Armadale Publishers, [1979] is a leading decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on the use of a defence of fair comment against an action for libel.
An action for libel was brought by a Morris Cherneskey, an alderman for Saskatoon City Council, against the local Star-Phoenix newspaper for publishing a letter written by two law students criticizing Cherneskey for supporting the creation of an Alcoholic Rehabilitation Centre in a res...
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Cherneskey v. Armadale Publishers, [1979] is a leading decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on the use of a defence of fair comment against an action for libel.
An action for libel was brought by a Morris Cherneskey, an alderman for Saskatoon City Council, against the local Star-Phoenix newspaper for publishing a letter written by two law students criticizing Cherneskey for supporting the creation of an Alcoholic Rehabilitation Centre in a residential section of Saskatoon.
In a six to three decision the Court held that a defence of fair comment is not possible when the editors themselves did not agree with the opinion of the letter and when there was no evidence that the authors of the letter submitted the letter in good faith. The Court stated that:
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