Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney loses attempt to have lawsuit thrown out

By The Canadian Press on May 25, 2023.

Alberta’s top court is denying an attempt by former Alberta premier Jason Kenney to have a defamation lawsuit against him thrown out.

Kenney is facing a lawsuit by five environmental groups, which was filed after an inquiry into whether the groups were using foreign funding and misinformation to landlock Alberta oil.

The Allan inquiry found the groups were doing nothing wrong and simply exercising their freedom of speech.

But the groups charge that Kenney continued to deliberately misrepresent those findings in his statements and on government websites.

Kenney’s lawyer had argued that there was no defamation because Kenney didn’t identify the groups by name.

But the Alberta Court of Appeal, in a judgment released Wednesday, ruled that everyone knew exactly which groups Kenney was talking about.

Neither Kenney nor his lawyers could immediately be reached for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 25, 2023.

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