Williams denied leave to appeal judge’s order
It’s not every day in a Canadian courthouse that the head justice excuses himself or herself — and all of his or her fellow judges — from hearing a particular case.
But that’s what happened in Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court trial division Jan. 19 in a case involving a legal dispute between former Newfoundland premier Danny Williams and political blogger Brad Cabana.
In 2012, Williams and Alderon Iron Ore Corp., a mining company, launched a defamation lawsuit against Cabana for allegations he had made regarding Williams and the Muskrat Falls mega-hydroelectric project in Labrador.
In a countersuit, Cabana al- leged that Williams and Alderon were trying to “nullify his criticism” of the development.
In December, Cabana submitted an application to Newfoundland Supreme Court Trial Division to strike the statement of claim filed in 2012 by Williams and Alderon.
When that application was called Jan. 19, Acting Chief Justice David Orsborn ruled that the matter should not be adjudicated upon by himself or any of the justices of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division.
Instead, a justice from the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court of Appeal was appointed to oversee the application. Williams, however, through his lawyer Jerome Kennedy, filed documents to the Appeal Court seeking permission to appeal the order made in the trial division to exclude the judges from hearing the case. On Monday, the Appeal Court denied Williams’ request.
Cabana said Tuesday he wasn’t surprised by the decision.
“(Williams and Kennedy) got shot down pretty badly in court,” Cabana said.
Cabana said his application to dismiss Williams’ statement of claim will be called in court again today. They will meet with the justice appointed from the Appeal Court, he said, and the legal process will unfold from there.
In December, during proceedings related to Williams’ defama- tion suit against Cabana, Orsborn released a letter he wrote last summer to then-premier Tom Marshall raising concerns and saying it was inappropriate to name a new courthouse in Corner Brook after Williams.
In his application to dismiss Williams’ lawsuit against him, Cabana argued the “overtly political” naming of the Corner Brook courthouse breaches principles of judicial independence, impartiality and equality before the law.
Cabana, who tried to run for both the PC and Liberal party leaderships in 2011, and eventually ran as a candidate for the Liberals in the 2011 election, is also suing former Tory premier Kathy Dunderdale and former tourism minister Terry French for defamation.
In the meantime, he has a case ongoing seeking an injunction to stop the Muskrat Falls project.