Ontario court dismisses defamation lawsuit against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford

The Canadian Press

TORONTO - A $6-million defamation lawsuit against Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been dismissed.

In a 15-page decision released Thursday, Ontario Superior Court Justice John Macdonald says restaurant owner George Foulidis failed to prove that libel had taken place.

Macdonald says it was not proven that the comments in question were directed at Foulidis or that they were defamatory.

Foulidis sued Ford alleging that the mayor suggested a leasing deal between Foulidis's company Tuggs Inc. and the city was corrupt and that it "stinks to high heaven."

Toronto city council extended a lease Foulidis had for his Boardwalk Cafe restaurant on public land in a sole-sourced, untendered contract for another 20 years in the summer of 2010 — in the middle of Ford's ultimately successful campaign to become mayor.

The mayor argued that he was talking about the company, not Foulidis himself, and that companies can't be defamed.