Contempt trial. CBC published information on its website regarding the identity of a victim of a crime. The reported information subsequently became the product of a publication ban. The CBC refused to remove its previously published information from its website. Issue regarding proof of contempt.
Held: Acquitted.
Expert evidence called regarding impracticality of backward un-publishing of information. Publishing only happens once, and future access to that publication (and the replication of it by others) does not amount to publication by the originator. The CBC had both the right, and duty, to report the news at a time when the information reported was not subject to any form of Court-ordered publication ban. “When balanced against the Charter right of the CBC … I have concluded that, on the facts of this case, allowing access to the impugned reports does not amount to publishing”.
S. Ward – Defence Counsel