Libel settlement suits Mayes

By RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff Dec 06 2006 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
Okanagan-Shuswap MP Colin Mayes is pleased a libel suit has been settled although he continues to insist it has little to do with him. Year-old legal action launched by Greg Husband of Salmon Arm has come to an end with an out-of-court settlement. “The City of Salmon Arm has advised me there has been closure to the court case,” said Mayes. Husband, who ran for Salmon Arm mayor last year, initiated the court action as a result of a letter that was written by Mayes, who was mayor at the time. The letter was published in the Lakeshore News, which was also named in the suit. Mayes has always maintained that the suit didn’t target him individually, but the position of mayor of Salmon Arm. “It’s good to have it behind me. I was mayor and I wrote the letter as mayor so it’s important that Salmon Arm had it settled,” he said. Some Conservative members recently wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, complaining that Mayes had misled them about his role in the suit. They believed that he individually, and not the municipality, was involved. However, senior party officials investigated the matter and they found Mayes had not done anything wrong. Mayes recently spoke to a party representative about the suit. “In his words, I was squeaky clean,” said Mayes. Husband would not get into specifics about the agreement. “We’ve not concluded the wording in the document and that should happen this week,” he said. “The settlement is typical of an out-of-court settlement because it’s not been tried in a court and no one was found guilty or innocent. There’s been a private conclusion.” Husband disagrees with Mayes’ interpretation of the process. “If you look at the document, it was against him. It had nothing to do with Salmon Arm. The document will be signed off on by him,” said Husband.