Defamation Suit Surrounding BC's Foreign Buyer Tax Is Dismissed

• Published date: 26 January 2021
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege, Libel & Defamation, Broadcasting: Film, TV & Radio
• Law Firm: Gardiner Roberts LLP
• Author: Mr Stephen Thiele

The law of defamation is fascinating because the fact scenarios of each case are unique. Where matters of public interest are involved, people are prone to express opinions about the activities and comments of others and to say things which either expressly accuse someone of illegal conduct or accuse someone by way of innuendo of such conduct.

In Zhao v. Corus Entertainment Inc., 2020 BCSC 1533, after a three-day summary trial, Justice Milman was required to determine whether to dismiss a defamation action that involved comments made by multiple media outlets, radio hosts, and a BC Liberal candidate about the plaintiff and a plan the plaintiff had developed to help foreign investors buy real estate in British Columba without having to pay the "foreign buyer tax."

The "foreign buyer tax" was enacted by the BC government following a sharp increase in housing prices in the summer of 2016. A widely held belief was that the sharp increase in prices was causing local residents to be forced out of the housing market by foreign speculators, and thus the government introduced an extra 15% in property purchase tax on foreign buyers.

The plaintiff was a real estate agent. In his view, there was a gap in the legislation which permitted foreign buyers to avoid paying the new tax by entering into a partnership with a Canadian and buying property in the name of the partnership. The plaintiff advertised his plan online in a Chinese-language forum and distributed some flyers at a Burnaby shopping mall. Upon learning of the plaintiff's promotion, an organization called "Housing Action for Local Taxpayers" ("HALT") contacted the media because it wanted to expose the apparent "loophole" in the legislation and to get it closed. A radio station invited representatives of HALT to be interviewed, thereby bringing the legislation and the plaintiff's activities to the public's attention.

During the interview, a BC Liberal candidate (and former cabinet minister) called into the radio show to comment on the legislation and to essentially quash the idea that there was a loophole in the legislation. This led to questions about potential fraud and comments that complaints about the plaintiff's promotion should be made to the "Ministry of Finance" or the "RCMP".

More media coverage followed, including in Chinese-language media. The plaintiff learned about these articles and subsequently contacted the radio station to speak about his proposal. He was unhappy with the way his proposal had...