Adedokun Waliyu 
Notorious anti-vaxxer and one-time fringe Calgary mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston must pay a public health inspector he continually harassed and defamed $650,000 in damages, a Calgary judge says.
In a written decision released Thursday, Justice Colin Feasby said Johnston’s relentless campaign against Sarah Nunn warranted a significant award of compensation.
But the Court of King’s Bench judge said he wasn’t confident Johnston would pay the penalty, also ordering the Calgary man to be permanently restrained from similar conduct aimed at the health inspector.
“While I have awarded damages for these causes of action, Mr. Johnston is unrepentant, and I have no confidence that the damages award will function as any sort of disincentive to him continuing to defame and harass Ms. Nunn,” Feasby wrote.
“Indeed, the fact that he has not paid a significant previous defamation award suggests to me that financial penalties are insufficient to motivate Mr. Johnston to change his conduct. Accordingly, I conclude that a permanent injunction is a just and appropriate remedy that is required to prevent Mr. Johnston from continuing to defame and harass Ms. Nunn.”
Feasby noted Johnston repeatedly defamed the public health inspector on his online talk show and in comments to mainstream media outlets.
“The evidence reviewed earlier in these reasons shows that Mr. Johnston repeatedly spoke about Ms. Nunn in segments in his online talk show. He used pejoratives like ‘terrorist’ and ‘fascist’ to describe Ms. Nunn,” Feasby said.
“He mocked Ms. Nunn and her family while showing pictures of them harvested from her social media accounts. And, as discussed earlier in these reasons, Mr. Johnston’s statements could reasonably be interpreted as inciting his followers to violence against Ms. Nunn and her family. This behaviour was harassing and Mr. Johnston knew or ought to have known it was unwelcome.”
The judge said it was clear Johnston’s repeated defamatory comments about Nunn, which included a suggestion she was an alcoholic based on social media posts of her drinking, were untrue.
“Let me say clearly that Mr. Johnston’s statements about Ms. Nunn are both untrue and unfair. The pictures that Mr. Johnston harvested from her social media depict a person enjoying her life with her husband, family, and friends. Nothing about the photos provides even a shred of support for the scorn heaped on Ms. Nunn by Mr. Johnston.”
Feasby also issued a permanent restraining order preventing Johnston from harassing other Alberta Health Services employees, but found AHS was a “government actor” and disentitled to sue Johnston for defamation.
