Harper's lawyer rejects expert in Cadman case

Tim Naumetz The Canadian Press

OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper was cross-examined last week in his $3.5-million libel case against the Liberal party, it was disclosed in court yesterday. Harper agreed to the sworn testimony in his unprecedented suit against the Liberals even though he claimed parliamentary privilege last year to avoid testifying in a libel suit filed against him after the 2006 federal election. A lawyer for the Liberals confirmed in response to a question from Justice Charles Hackland that Harper had been cross-examined over an affidavit he filed in the case, but she would not reveal any details. Harper's lawyer, Richard Dearden, also declined to comment on the Prime Minister's testimony. Former Conservative candidate Alan Riddell sued Harper over statements the Prime Minister made about an agreement struck between Riddell and the Tories that had him step aside as a candidate for the 2006 election. The Prime Minister argued he could not be compelled to testify when Parliament was in session, citing an 18th-century British law that protected MPs from lawsuits by creditors. Harper later agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

Meanwhile, Dearden argued yesterday that an expert opinion comparing Harper's suit to one of the biggest scandals in Canadian history should be tossed. The Liberal party filed the opinion by a political scientist as part of its defence in the defamation suit Harper launched against the party over the Chuck Cadman affair. The opinion by University of Toronto professor Peter Russell compares the Cadman allegations to the scandal that brought down Canada's first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, in 1873. Dearden told Hackland the comparison – which Russell used as one example in arguing Harper is the first Canadian prime minister to sue political opponents – unfairly taints Harper's reputation. Dearden argued there is no comparison between the Pacific Railway scandal and allegations that Conservatives offered Cadman a bribe to help defeat the Liberal minority government in 2005. Harper launched the suit in the wake of a biography of Cadman that quoted his widow saying Conservatives offered the late independent MP a $1-million life insurance policy to vote against the Liberals in the Commons on a confidence measure. Harper based his lawsuit on Liberal party Web postings suggesting Harper was aware Tories had offered Cadman financial considerations, and an audio recording the party posted of an interview Harper had with Cadman's biographer, B.C. author Tom Zytaruk. Russell cited the railway scandal as he tried to argue that, unlike any previous prime minister, Harper filed his libel action in an attempt to silence the opposition.