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Weston campaign refutes claim

Liberal Party candidate alleges opponent involved in smear campaign

 UPDATED:  Liberal and Conservative campaigns in West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country continue to battle over claims of a smear campaign days before voters cast their ballots on Monday, May 2.

Liberal Party candidate Dan Veniez filed a civil claim in BC Supreme Court on April 26 against Conservative incumbent John Weston and three others, alleging that Weston’s campaign used “anonymous character assassination” against him.

Weston’s campaign has refuted the claim and issued a press release on April 27. “Daniel Veniez’s threat to sue is about desperate politics, not about law,” it stated. “It is about Dan Veniez and not the Weston campaign.”

In an email to the Peak, Veniez pointed out he was not “threatening to sue, I have sued. The action was launched in BC Supreme Court.”

As well, Veniez has filed two complaints with Elections Canada and the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. One relates to the Weston campaign’s distribution of a YouTube video and the other is related to the distribution of a slanderous blog article. “This is all about the law,” Veniez wrote.

Section 91 of the Canada Elections Act states, “No person shall, with intention of affecting the results of an election, knowingly make or publish any false statement of fact in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate or prospective candidate.”

“It’s important that the factual record on these things be very accurate,” Veniez wrote. “As I keep reminding people, you can make up your own opinion, but you can’t make up your own facts.

“These people have a history of innuendo and character assassination, all the while denying they are doing it and smiling while they are doing it. One doesn’t have to look very far to see examples of the Canadian body politic littered with this. It has a corrosive impact on our democracy largely because we have been complacent in the face of these Karl Rove and Tea Party tactics. But we can’t.”

Weston has yet to file a statement of defence, but the release stated that typically, issues about a candidate’s personal or business dealings are aired in a nomination process, but Veniez was acclaimed by the Liberal Party and did not face this scrutiny. “For people in this riding, this is the first opportunity for Mr. Veniez in a political forum to face questions about his position on a number of issues including corporate pensioners. The treatment of pensioners is a public policy matter important to the thousands of corporate employees in our riding and their family members.”

The video posted on YouTube claims that Veniez unjustly enriched himself from pension funds at the expense of former employees of the Skeena Cellulose operation. In a statement issued April 20, the Veniez campaign said people wearing Weston buttons and T-shirts “were openly distributing copies of an email claiming that Veniez was in some way responsible for pension shortfalls incurred when the former Skeena Cellulose operation in Prince Rupert went into bankruptcy.”

Weston’s campaign denied having provided supporters with such materials. David Bromley, Weston’s campaign manager, said in a statement issued on April 21, “We deny Mr. Veniez’ claims. At no time did this campaign provide supporters with any materials at any all-candidates meetings regarding Dan Veniez and his involvement with New Skeena Cellulose.”

Bromley later clarified his remarks, saying he meant to say that the Weston campaign had nothing to do with the production of the video. He admitted, though, that after checking to ensure the video’s authenticity, he had emailed a link to the video to a list of Weston supporters for an electronic newsletter called “campaign confidential.”

Bromley said he decided to do that after Veniez was asked a question about the issue at an April 17 candidates forum in West Vancouver.

“It was distributed to our supporters on a confidential basis,” Bromley said.

Veniez, who was president of Skeena until September 2004, denies he was in any way responsible for any such pension shortfalls and accused the Weston campaign of “engaging in an outrageous smear campaign in a desperate attempt to protect his seat.”

Veniez called on Weston last week to apologize for the alleged smear campaign.

According to an April 26 statement from the Veniez campaign team, several affidavits have been sworn by attendees at the all-candidates meeting confirming that they witnessed Weston’s workers distributing the materials.

In addition, the video was posted on the John Weston Nation Facebook page.

-with files from the Squamish Chief and Coast Reporter.


Veniez files defamation claim

Liberal Party candidate accuses Conservatives of distributing 'lies and fabrications'

by David Burke | Squamish Chief

Liberal Party candidate Dan Veniez has filed a notice of civil claim for defamation in the Supreme Court of BC against Conservative John Weston.

Veniez and Weston are both running to represent the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding in Ottawa.

Veniez says Weston campaign workers have distributed “lies and fabrications” aimed at damaging his reputation in advance of the May 2 federal election.

In a statement issued April 20, the Veniez campaign said people wearing Weston buttons and T-shirts “were openly distributing copies of an email claiming that Veniez was in some way responsible for pension shortfalls incurred when the former Skeena Cellulose operation in Prince Rupert went into bankruptcy.”

Weston’s campaign denied having provided supporters with such materials.

“This is not about John Weston or his campaign,” David Bromley, Weston’s campaign manager, said in a statement issued the next day. “I want to be very clear. We deny Mr. Veniez’ claims. At no time did this campaign provide supporters with any materials at any all-candidates’ meetings regarding Dan Veniez and his involvement with New Skeena Cellulose.”

After emails pre-dating Bromley’s comments to The Chief appeared with Bromley’s name at the bottom and a link to the YouTube video, Bromley on Monday (April 25) clarified his remarks, saying he meant to say that the Weston campaign had nothing to do with the production of the video. He admitted, though, that after checking to ensure the video’s authenticity, he had emailed a link to the video to a list of Weston supporters for an electronic newsletter called “campaign confidential.” Bromley said he decided to do that after Veniez was asked a question about the issue at an April 17 candidates’ forum in West Vancouver.

“It was distributed to our supporters on a confidential basis,” Bromley said. Asked whether some Weston supporters might have distributed it to some people who weren’t  on the “confidential” list, Bromley said he didn’t know.

“My question to everybody [on the list] was that everyone should make up their own minds,” he said.

Veniez, who was president of Skeena until September 2004, denies he was in any way responsible for any such pension shortfalls and accused the Weston campaign of “engaging in an outrageous smear campaign in a desperate attempt to protect his seat.

“This needs to stop now,” Veniez added. “The allegations being promoted by his campaign workers are complete lies, full stop. The pension plans, union and non-union alike, were never compromised in any way.

“I call on John Weston to apologize for this remarkable lapse of ethical judgment, and to make it clear that he in no way endorses the lies and fabrications being distributed by people on his behalf, by people wearing his buttons.”

The statement said the Veniez campaign was seeking an injunction from Elections Canada “to prevent further dissemination of false and misleading ‘information’ on the grounds that this is a clear breach of the Elections Act.”