Climate scientist sues National Post
Canadian climate scientist Andrew Weaver is suing the National Post for its coverage of him and his work — and he is also asking the court to force the CanWest flagship newspaper to help scrub the web of its re-posted articles, which a news release from his law firm says “poison” the Internet.
The suit, filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, names Financial Post editor Terence Corcoran, columnist Peter Foster,
reporter Kevin Libin and publisher Gordon Fisher, “as well
as several still-unidentified editors and copy editors.” Click through for the news release ….
Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist based at the University of Victoria, is fighting back against climate-change deniers at the National Post. The press release is below:
Apr 21, 2010 15:53 ET
Climate Scientist Sues National Post for Libel
Weaver Seeks Unprecedented Order to Remove Stories That “Poison” the Internet
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – April 21, 2010) – University
of Victoria Professor Andrew Weaver, the Canada Research Chair in
Climate Modelling and Analysis, launched a lawsuit today in BC Supreme
Court against three writers at The National Post (and the newspaper as
a whole), over a series of unjustified libels based on grossly
irresponsible falsehoods that have gone viral on the Internet.
In a statement released at the same time the suit was filed, Dr. Weaver
said, “I asked The National Post to do the right thing – to retract a
number of recent articles that attributed to me statements I never
made, accused me of things I never did, and attacked me for views I
never held. To my absolute astonishment, the newspaper refused.”
Dr. Weaver’s statement of claim not only asks for a Court injunction
requiring The National Post to remove all of the false allegations from
its Internet websites, but also seeks an unprecedented Court order
requiring the newspaper to assist Dr. Weaver in removing the defamatory
National Post articles from the many other Internet sites where they
have been re-posted.
“If I sit back and do nothing to clear my name, these libels will stay
on the Internet forever. They’ll poison the factual record, misleading
people who are looking for reliable scientific information about global
warming,” said Weaver.
The suit names Financial Post Editor Terence Corcoran, columnist Peter
Foster, reporter Kevin Libin and National Post publisher Gordon Fisher,
as well as several still-unidentified editors and copy editors. It
seeks general, aggravated damages, special and exemplary damages and
legal costs in relation to articles by Foster on December 9, 2009
(“Weaver’s Web”), Corcoran on December 10, 2009 (“Weaver’s Web II”) and
January 27, 2010 (“Climate Agency going up in flames”), and Libin on
February 2, 2010 (“So much for pure science”).
The Statement of Claim was filed April 20, 2010 at the BC Supreme Court
Registry at the Vancouver Courthouse: Weaver v Corcoran and others,
SCBC No.102698, Vancouver Registry. Court record information and
documents are publicly accessible online at Court Services Online:
https://eservice.ag.gov.bc.ca/cso/index.do.
