ARTICLE · 15 SEPTEMBER 2022

Can You Slander A Candidate In An Election?

Robinson Sheppard Shapiro

Explore more from Robinson Sheppard Shapiro

What are the limits of what can be said on social media about a candidate in an election? The question was answered in Laprise c. Simard, 2022 QCCS 1384, a recent decision by Justice Claude Bouchard...

CanadaGovernment, Public Sector

Maxime Saint-Onge

What are the limits of what can be said on social media about a candidate in an election? The question was answered in Laprise c. Simard, 2022 QCCS 1384, a recent decision by Justice Claude Bouchard of the Superior Court.

The Facts

The plaintiff is the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Beauport–Côte-de-Beaupré–Île d'Orléans–Charlevoix in the last federal election of September 20, 2021.

The night before the vote, the plaintiff, who is the ex spouse of the plaintiff's husband and who has two children with this man, puts up a post on her Facebook page in which she essentially states that the plaintiff is using the children to promote her candidacy for the election.

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