Former Liberal candidate Dan Veniez's sound defeat in Monday's (May 2) federal election will not deter him from pursuing the defamation lawsuit against re-elected Conservative MP John Weston.
"We will pursue the lawsuit, the Elections Canada complaint and we have also filed a complaint with the Law Society," said Veniez after the election. "What was done to me was just not right."
On April 26, Veniez filed a notice of civil claim for defamation in B.C. Supreme Court against Weston for what he called "a continuing shadow campaign of libel and misinformation."
The suit alleges Veniez was defamed in a YouTube video linked to Weston's campaign Facebook page, John Weston Nation, and in a letter from Paul Veltmeyer, a former employee of the Skeena Group, of which Veniez was president until September 2004.
On April 27 Weston issued a media statement refuting the defamation claim and adding, "Daniel Veniez's threat to sue is about desperate politics, not about law."
Veniez's campaign manager Mark Masongsong said the campaign team warned him against filing a lawsuit.
"We warned him the smear campaign might hurt his chances, but he didn't care," said Masongsong. "This is how things happen in politics.
"The smart political thing would probably be to let it slide and let it die its own death, but he didn't care about that - he said it's a matter of principle and we shouldn't accept this in our political discourse and if it hurts us, it hurts us."
Masongsong said he admired Veniez's principles but acknowledged that inexperience on the political stage may have also played a role.
Veniez said his resolve is unchanged by the election defeat.
"Weston and the Harper Conservatives attack and malign people. The facts do not matter to these people and I think as a result of attacks like what was done to me, people are discouraged from running for public office," Veniez said.
"I will do what I can to ensure that what Mr. Weston and his campaign team did in this instance - which is against the law, circulating material that is clearly false - will be held accountable for their actions."
After the campaign, Weston said he expected the lawsuit to go nowhere, adding that he was "convinced there has been no defamation."
