Premier Kathleen Wynne is giving Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown six weeks to retract his false statement that she is on “trial” in the Sudbury byelection bribery case.Wynne, who had threatened to serve Brown with a libel suit if he had not apologized by 5 p.m. Thursday, has extended that deadline until Oct. 24.“Earlier this week Patrick Brown made a statement about the premier that was false and defamatory,” Jennifer Beaudry, the premier’s director of media relations, wrote in an email Friday morning.“His conduct in the days following his remarks has been just as disappointing. As a public figure, he should recognize that defaming another politician is unacceptable,” continued Beaudry.“While Patrick Brown refuses to apologize, we are encouraged that media coverage and public discussion over the last 48 hours has covered just how wrong and misleading his comments were,” she added.“We continue to consider all of our options at this point in time, and will govern ourselves by the timelines set out in the Libel and Slander Act.”According to that provincial law, a notice of defamation must be served “within six weeks after the alleged libel has come to the plaintiff’s knowledge.”On Tuesday, Brown said Ontario had “a sitting premier sitting in trial” and that Wynne “stands trial” in Sudbury.His comments came as the premier was testifying as a Crown witness in a Sudbury courtroom where Patricia Sorbara, her former deputy chief of staff, and Liberal activist Gerry Lougheed are on trial for alleged Election Act violations. Both Sorbara and Lougheed deny any wrongdoing.Brown has dismissed her appearance in court as “a sorry spectacle” and has declined to correct his misstatement.“Regrettably, Kathleen Wynne compounded the problem by this threat of a lawsuit. Her baseless lawsuit will be ignored,” the Tory ...
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