FORMER MINISTER SUES BROADCASTER OVER ONLINE GAMING PROGRAM

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Claim that reputation ruined by CBC program in 2001

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is currently being sued for libel by former Canadian government minister Doug Lewis, who alleges that his reputation was ruined by a negative program on Internet gambling aired in 2001.

After a distinguished political career in which he served as Minister of Justice in 1988, Minister of Transport in 1990, and Solicitor General of Canada in 1991, Lewis returned to private life and in 2001 was the chairman and shareholder of Oxford Software Developers Inc.

The company licensed off-shore Internet gambling sites such as Tropical Casino, and became the subject of a program by the broadcaster in which Lewis was interviewed and claimed that the offshore website would block Canadians from gambling.

The former minister now claims that CBC staff, including news anchor Peter Mansbridge and reporter Sasa Petricic, ruined his reputation in the subsequent broadcast about the "evils of internet gambling in Canada."

The report, aired on Canada Now and The National on June 27, 2001, claimed that while internet gambling is illegal in Canada [ed. note - an arguable statement], at least one website, the offshore Tropical Casino licensed by Lewis' company, allowed Canadians to log on and make bets with a credit card.

Defending the program, the broadcaster's lawyer Jonathan Lisus said Monday: "This broadcast was about that paradox. It's a big problem in society, and Canadians had a right to know."

In the program CBC reporter Petricic claimed he was able to log on to the Tropical Casino website, place a bet on the Toronto Blue Jays with his credit card, and received his winnings of $20 which was sent to the CBC Parliamentary Bureau in Ottawa a week later.

For the plaintiff, Lewis' lawyer, Peter Waldman, told the court that the $20 was not winnings, but rather a "refund" that was sent back to Petricic when it was noticed he was a Canadian. "Petricic was caught," Waldman said. "That's why his money was refunded. The defendant has made my client out to be a liar and the public needs to know that this defamation was false and wrong."

Lisus scoffed at the suggestion, and stated Lewis became upset after the broadcast because he had thought it would be a "puff piece" about his business.

The case continues this week.