January 10, 2011
Lougheed v. Wilson, 2010 BCSC 1871

The defendants in a debt action Charles Blair Wilson (and plaintiffs by counterclaim for defamation) applied for an order requiring Elaine O’Connor a journalist (and defendant by counterclaim) to disclose the identity of one of her sources. The original action is for debt. The Loughheed estate is suing the Wilsons for repayment of substantial loans.

[4] The Wilsons deny that they owe any money to the estate. Further, in a counterclaim, they say that Wilson has been defamed by the plaintiff Lougheed and others. The defamation claim arises out of a lengthy story given front page prominence by the Vancouver newspaper The Province on October 28, 2007. At the time, Wilson was the Liberal Member of Parliament for the riding of West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast. The headline on the front page read: “Family Exposes MP’s Trail of Debt”. The lengthy story commences on page A8 with a headline stating Lougheed was proclaiming publicly that Wilson was “not fit for public office”.

[6] The sources relied upon in the story include the plaintiff Lougheed, a named veteran liberal campaign manager, other named workers in Wilson’s campaign, and an unnamed source.