Matt Meier and his company RackNine Inc. have followed through with an earlier threat to follow through with a $5 million law suit against the NDP and MP Pat Martin for for defamation, claiming comments from Martin and published by the NDP have lost business for the company.
Meier claims that the defamatory remarks began on February 23 when Martin spoke at a news conference in Ottawa and continued later that day on CBC’s Power and Politics and CTV’s Power Play.
In a statement Meier said, "Martin's words were defamatory, and, in the very least, carried the innuendo that Meier and/or RackNine had committed criminal activity, fraudulent activity, participated in a conspiracy, intimidation, sabotage and/or deceit."
Having Martin’s comments posted on its webpage, the $5 million law suit widened its scope to include the New Democratic Party of Canada.
The claim also stated that Martin refused to apologize and retract the statements after receiving a letter from Meier. He claims that Martin and the NDP deliberately tried to maximize the damage to RackNine causing it to be "shunned, avoided, and exposed to hatred, contempt and ridicule.”
Martin said he had met with his lawyer to prepare an apology Friday and that he is “disappointed” the company would “pull the trigger before they’d even seen the response to their original complaint.”
"Classic libel-chill [SLAPP]-suit tactic I guess. How to silence someone with your chequebook," Martin wrote to CBC referencing a legal tactic that uses litigation to silence public criticism.
RackNine has been targeted for its alleged involvement with the automated phone calls that misled voters in Guelph during the last election. The company is cooperating with the Elections Canada investigation into the matter.
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