Bill Vander Zalm guilty of libel in his (history re-writing) autobiography

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/vander-zalm-found-guilty-of-defamation/article2333056/

An attempt by former British Columbia premier Bill Vander Zalm to revise political history has suffered a major setback, and his self-published autobiography will need a massive re-edit before the next copy is sold.

That was the effect of a Supreme Court of B.C. ruling on Thursday in which a jury found him guilty of defaming former conflict-of-interest commissioner Ted Hughes in his book, Bill Vander Zalm: For the People.

What disturbed him [Hughes] about the 2008 book was how he and the pivotal events of 1991 were portrayed. That year Mr. Vander Zalm, a populist Social Credit premier who was known for his great charm and high-voltage smile, had been caught in a whirlwind of controversy over the sale of Fantasy Gardens, a theme park he owned with his wife, Lillian Vander Zalm.

The buyer of the Richmond-based park was Tan Yu, a billionaire Taiwanese businessman who paid $16-million for it. While Mr. Yu was visiting B.C., Mr. Vander Zalm arranged a luncheon for him with the lieutenant-governor and facilitated meetings with cabinet ministers.

-<more>---------------------


Under fire, he asks his conflict-of-interest commissioner to investigate him, and when Hughes doesn't come back with the boot-licking whitewash he wanted, he tries to even the score 20 years later. Vander Zalm still doesn't think he did anything wrong. A jury has decided differently.

This verdict made my day.