Neighbours' Defamation Costs Skyrocket

Shared driveway spat proves costly

A falling out between neighbours that began with a dispute over a shared driveway has led to an additional $335,000 in court costs being levied by the provincial Supreme Court.

In a trial that took place earlier this year, Lions Bay residents Tracy Song and George Liu were ordered to pay their neighbours Cindy and Richard David more than $108,000, principally as a result of remarks that were made in person and on the social media app 'WeChat' about the Davids, after a dispute arose between the neighbours over a construction project impacting their shared driveway.

At that trial, BC Supreme Court Justice Gordon Funt found that in April 2022, Liu libelled Cindy David in a WeChat forum, which serves Chinese-speaking residents in Lions Bay. Funt said Liu accused David of being "a tax evader, a fraudster, a public resource abuser and, staggeringly, the vile sting that she uses her cancer for personal gain."

In making the award to the Davids, Funt said it was important that the Court choose an amount that ensures members of the public, while enjoying free expression, are deterred from malicious, oppressive and high-handed conduct, particularly on social media.

In November, Judge Amy Peck presided over a hearing for special costs that grew out of last February's trial. In her judgement, Peck said that special costs are not meant as compensation, but are in fact punitive. "The purpose of special costs is to censure and deter litigation misconduct, not to compensate the plaintiff."

Peck said that special costs are meant to indemnify a successful party, but not to be a windfall.

She noted that self-represented parties (as Song and Liu were) are not exempt from special costs orders if their conduct warrants sanction. While the term 'special costs' is often used as a shorthand for legal fees, she said that it is "an assessment of the objectively reasonable legal costs involved in managing the proceeding."

After reviewing the evidence, Judge Amy Peck called the legal representative for the plaintiffs "careful, conservative and diligent", and awarded the Davids special costs amounting to a further $335,000. This brings the total amount Liu and Song have been ordered to pay to more than $443,000.

A report on the initial trial can be found HERE.

The Watershed values your thoughts. Leave your comment below,

or email us at editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca 

Like what you're reading?

Please consider supporting local independent journalism

by subscribing to The Watershed HERE.