Keeping Things In Context: B.C. Court Of Appeal Considers The Roles Of Context And Public Debate In Defamation Cases

The B.C. Court of Appeal's recent decision in Northwest Organics, Limited Partnership v. Fandrich1 ("Northwest Organics") demonstrates the importance of keeping things in context when determining whether an allegedly defamatory statement has a defamatory meaning. In particular, the decision illustrates that even a statement that might engender feelings of dislike or disesteem towards an individual or a company may not have a defamatory meaning when considered in context.

Facts

The plaintiffs — Northwest Organics, Limited Partnership and Northwest Group Properties Inc. (together, "Northwest") — purchased a farm in the Botanie Valley (near Lytton) on which it intended to build and operate a commercial composting facility. Upon learning of this intention, the defendants, a handful of community members and a non-profit society, grew concerned over the potential adverse environmental and health impacts of the facility. A heated public debate over the facility followed, with Northwest and the defendants publishing a series of reports, flyers, and other statements that criticized one another's positions.

This debate was launched in earnest when Northwest retained a biologist to perform an independent environmental review of the proposed facility. The resulting report concluded that if the facility were to be constructed as designed and operated according to best practices, then it should have no major adverse environmental effects. In response, the Lytton First Nation retained a consultant to perform a separate review. The resulting report was critical of the proposal and recommended against constructing the facility based on perceived environmental and health risks. In reply, Northwest published a report and two flyers that, among other things, criticized the consultant's report as "malicious, reckless, alarmist and intentionally misleading". This back-and-forth continued as flyers that disputed the accuracy of statements made by Northwest were distributed and community meetings about the facility were held. At one meeting, one of the defendants expressed concerns about the facility, including that rats and vermin would come in with the compost and that the operation would bring in seeds and invasive plants. According to Northwest, these statements implied that it would cut corners, violate applicable regulations, and act in a manner inconsistent with its own published plans.

Northwest sued the defendants in defamation and unlawful interference...