Don Martin (journalist)

Don Martin (born September 12, 1956) is a former Canadian television and newspaper journalist, who was the host of Power Play on CTV News Channel from 2009 to 2019.[1] Formerly a political columnist for the National Post and the Calgary Herald, he joined the show in 2010 following the departure of Tom Clark.[1] He hosted his last show on December 20, 2019.

Lawsuit

During the Alberta provincial election in 2008, Martin wrote an article about candidate Arthur Kent published in the National Post and Calgary Herald. The "Martin Article" was ruled defamatory in a June, 2016 trial judgment.[2] Kent won $200,000 in damages from Martin and Canada's largest newspaper chain, Postmedia Network Inc.[3]

On January 16, 2017 the trial judge awarded Kent costs of $250,000.[4] Kent appealed the decision, asking Alberta's Court of Appeal to find the "intentional strategic decision to conceal" key email records by Martin, the newspapers and their lawyers was, in fact, fraudulent concealment. In a decision on May 25, 2018, the Court of Appeal agreed with Kent, awarding him an additional $200,000 in costs.[5][6] The appeal court's decision reads, in part:

"[8] Finally, in the course of her analysis of the evidence the trial judge found that Mr. Martin’s testimony on key points lacked candor and was unreliable. Where his evidence conflicted with that of other witnesses, the trial judge almost invariably preferred the testimony of the others."[5][6]

The appeal court's decision against Martin and Postmedia has been called "a chastening moment" for lawyers who may view their clients’ disclosure obligations in a lax or indifferent manner.[7][6]

gollark: I'm Europan, I think the majority of the server's active players are.
gollark: Christmas has been banned by the Switch City OSHA, so no.
gollark: Hmm, I wonder if I could launch a coup.
gollark: I'm probably still electoral commissioner or whatever.
gollark: Or the Keansian government; the traffic light program could be reinstated.

References
  1. "Don Martin to host political show Power Play". cbc.ca, November 30, 2010.
  2. Kent v Martin, 2016 ABQB 314; https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2016/2016abqb314/2016abqb314.html
  3. CBC News, June 8, 2016; http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/arthur-kent-defamation-trial-decision-1.3622366
  4. Kent v. Martin, 2017 ABQB 27; https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abqb/doc/2017/2017abqb27/2017abqb27.html and CBC News, January 18, 2017; http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/arthur-kent-journalist-250000-legal-costs-awarded-1.3941351
  5. Kent v. Martin, 2018 ABCA 202; https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/abca/doc/2018/2018abca202/2018abca202.html and CBC News, May 25, 2018; http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/arthur-kent-lawsuit-cost-awards-postmedia-1.4678118
  6. The Lawyer's Daily, May 31, 2018; https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/6633
  7. Canadian Lawyer magazine, May 30, 2018; http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/legalfeeds/author/aidan-macnab/former-journalist-arthur-kent-awarded-additional-200k-in-costs-over-battle-with-postmedia-and-columnist-15789/


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