Member of parliament Blair Wilson and his wife have launched a countersuit against Wilson's father-in-law, claiming William Lougheed unlawfully redirected money from his late wife's estate and defamed Wilson in the media.
The counterclaim, included as part of the Wilsons' statement of defence in a suit brought by Lougheed against them in February, alleges that Lougheed forged his wife Norma's signature to transfer some $450,000 to himself and a registered company he owns, and that Lougheed misappropriated $400,000 from his late wife's will that was intended for her daughter Kelly Wilson, Blair's wife.
The countersuit, filed last Tuesday (April 2), also alleges that Lougheed defamed Blair Wilson in various media outlets and seeks unspecified damages for the harm caused to Wilson's reputation.
Lougheed's original claim alleged that the Wilsons owed him and his late wife's estate $2 million in unpaid loans. Lougheed later amended his claim to remove some of the more dated parts of the suit, but still claims Kelly Wilson owes some $1.3 million related to three property transactions and that Blair Wilson owes him $11,000 in unpaid loans.
The Wilsons' counterclaim denies that $5,000 of that is owed, alleging it was a contribution to Wilson's campaign for the West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky parliamentary seat and is therefore not subject to reimbursement. The defamation claim arises as a result of articles published last October in which Lougheed, a long-time successful businessman, laid out his claims about the Wilsons' indebtedness.
The articles also included allegations of Wilson's campaign spending irregularities from former campaign staffers. That prompted Wilson to resign from the Liberal Party caucus while Elections Canada investigates. Wilson now sits as an independent MP.
The Wilsons' counterclaim alleges that before the stories went to press, Blair Wilson made inquiries about the state of Norma's will on Kelly's behalf and was told that if those inquiries didn't cease, "the plaintiffs would take steps to destroy the reputation of the defendant, Blair Wilson."
It alleges that Lougheed, "a sophisticated experienced businessman," knew he didn't have the documentation to prove his claims of the Wilsons' indebtedness. It goes on to say "at no time prior to publishing the Plaintiffs' claims of indebtedness by the defendant Blair Wilson did [Lougheed] make any oral or written demand for payment."
While the Wilsons' defamation claim is directed only at Lougheed, the countersuit leaves the door open for them to add the names of others quoted in the article, certain federal Liberal Party officials and media outlets to the current claim or to future defamation actions.
"What I have done is made it quite clear that I'm keeping my options open," Wilson's lawyer, Jay Straith, told The Question on April 4.
Straith said Wilson has been co-operating fully with the Elections Canada probe into the campaign spending allegations and believes it will clear his name.
After those allegations came to light, Liberal Party officials told Wilson they would no longer accept him as a candidate in the next election because, according to the party, he had failed to disclose certain financial dealings when he first ran for the party in 2004. However, said Straith, "It's quite clear that the party acted on erroneous information.
"We've done everything we can to help (Elections Canada) straighten this out. But leaving that aside, with all this financial stuff, what's Mr. Dion going to do?" Straith asked, referring to Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. "I would hope the Liberal Party of Canada would have the integrity to come out and [admit it was wrong], but given the events of the past few months, I'm not holding my breath."
