Former Montreal exec. committee president to sue Le Journal, TVA for defamation

The City of Montreal's former executive committee president Dominique Ollivier is firing back in court against two Quebecor news agencies she said defamed her.

Dominique Ollivier said that Le Journal de Montreal and TVA reported "factual errors and omissions" in 2023 when reporting on the scandal she was embroiled in over extravagant spending when she was president of the city's public consultation office (OCPM).

"I believe in investigative journalism and fully recognize the right of journalists to investigate and ask questions about matters of public interest," Ollivier said in a statement. "However, journalists also have a duty to inform the public honestly, without misleading public opinion by confusing issues or misrepresenting facts."

Ollivier said in her statement that she cooperated with journalists but that those being sued distorted or took statements out of context in addition to misrepresenting her and omitting important information.

She announced her resignation from the executive committee in November and said she lodged a complaint with the Quebec Press Council on Dec. 14, and that it was deemed admissible.

"They [Le Journal and TVA] deliberately maintained confusion about the facts and their timing, used unsubstantiated insinuations and resorted to lame comparisons for the sake of sensationalism, all practices that contravene their profession's code of ethics," Ollivier said in her statement.

Ollivier said that since the allegations became public, she received a number of violent, misogynistic, and racist messages.

She said in her statement that the way Le Journal and TVA reports were analyzed or disseminated "had a huge impact on the basis of false, truncated or amalgamated information, which, in my opinion, did not allow the public or the decision-makers to form a clear picture of the situation."

Ollivier said she is covering the legal expenses herself.