(Quebec) An agreement has been reached between Conservative leader Éric Duhaime and The Journal of Quebec he was suing for defamation. Both parties thus avoid a trial in Superior Court.
The information was confirmed on Monday afternoon by Mr. Duhaime’s lawyer, Mr.e Elodie Drolet-French, who however did not reveal any details on the agreement, strictly confidential.
At the origin of the complaint, a column by Karine Gagnon published on September 22, 2020 in the pages of Quebec newspaper titled “Les complotistes de Québec”.
Mme Gagnon asserted that CHOI FM was “the transmission belt par excellence for conspiracy theorists”.
She added that we could hear “their spokespersons more often than not, some like Éric Duhaime having even become regular columnists there”.
In his lawsuit, Éric Duhaime had denied being a conspirator and denounced a “slanderous chronicle” which suggested that the increase in cases of COVID-19 in the capital stemmed from his remarks.
He claimed $125,000 from MédiaQMI, including $100,000 in damages and $25,000 in punitive damages.
Mr. Duhaime argued that the publication of this column had had the effect of “considerably harming” his reputation, which had resulted in a “loss of confidence from some of his business partners”.
The politician also blamed the Quebec newspaper of ignoring four attempts to get a reply to the column published.
For its part, the media had defended its columnist, saying that she had expressed “in good faith” “reasonable comments on matters of public interest and on a public figure”.
The Conservative leader had filed his lawsuit in the fall of 2020. The trial was to take place this year, from June 12 to 15.