2018 June 20
Paramount Fine Foods v. Johnson, 2018 ONSC 3711
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to dismiss this action as a SLAPP pursuant to s. 137.1 of the Ontario Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43. The plaintiffs claimed the defendants published “invective” against Muslims in media clips distributed on an Internet website and on YouTube. The Court stated: “Merely uttering something in a forum or at an event where matters of public interest are being discussed does not make the expression a matter of public interest within the meaning of s. 137.1 … For the purposes of the proper application of the anti-SLAPP provisions, the true nature of the expression, and not just the setting in which it takes place, must be carefully scrutinized before it is permitted to pass the first hurdle of the test.” “[W]here the expression can reasonably be interpreted as both hate communication and a communication on a matter of public interest, s. 137.1 does not extend its protection.”