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A libel lawsuit lodged against the premier of Nova Scotia by a former government lawyer will move forward with the Supreme Court of Canada’s blessing.
The libel lawsuit, filed by former government lawyer Alex Cameron, says that the premier defamed him and ultimately cost him his position when he disavowed an argument made in a 2016 legal brief on behalf of the government. The premier allegedly accused the government lawyer of acting outside of instructions from the Nova Scotia government after the argument was publicly criticized.
According to local news source The Star, a brief filed in July of 2016 and written by the former government lawyer argued that Nova Scotia did not have a duty to consult a local tribe regarding a natural gas storage proposal. The controversial brief filed on behalf of the government contended that the tribe had submitted to the British Crown in 1760, as opposed to “unconquered peoples” in different treaties.
The Star says that after receiving public criticism over the brief, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, along with his former justice minister, claimed that the arguments had not been approved by them.
According to the libel lawsuit, in a media scrum McNeil and others had stated “I had no idea it was being put forward,” with reference to Cameron’s brief. The justice minister reportedly stated “I can reiterate what the premier said. (It) went beyond the position of government.”
The plaintiff in the libel lawsuit states that these claims were false, and he had not acted contrary or outside of any instruction.
Cameron, who worked on Indigenous cases, resigned from the Justice Department in 2017.
Specifically, Cameron points out that he had to receive instructions to file the brief in court, but, according to The Star, he had to fight to get those instructions released from the Nova Scotia government.
The Nova Scotia government argued that the instructions given to Cameron regarding the brief were subject to solicitor-client privilege and could not be presented as evidence in the libel lawsuit. The former attorney took the issue all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Supreme Court of Canada sided with the former lawyer, ruling that the instructions would have to be released as a part of the libel lawsuit. Although the instructions were subject to solicitor-client privilege at the time they were provided to the lawyer, that privilege was nullified when the premier and other members of the government accused him of overstepping in the brief.
“Mr. Cameron will file a [libel] action in the usual way, and it will proceed in that fashion in the public domain,” Bruce Outhouse, the lawyer for the plaintiff told the Star Tribune of the libel lawsuit.
What do you think of the Nova Scotia libel lawsuit? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below!
The plaintiff is represented by Bruce Outhouse.
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