Sudbury councillor launches $450K defamation suit against city, local resident

Sudbury Coun. Bill Leduc has launched a legal action of his own a month after a city committee voted to start legal proceedings against him for "apparent campaign finance contraventions" in 2022. 

In a statement of claim with an Ontario court published Monday, Leduc seeks at least $450,000 in damages.

He continues to deny any wrongdoing in the 2022 election campaign, and says the allegations against him are motivated by political considerations as opposed to election integrity concerns.

Leduc is asking the court to void the legal action he's currently facing following the committee vote earlier in July.

He's also requesting an injunction that would prevent local resident Anastasia Rioux from "publishing further defamatory statements" against him. Rioux is the person who brought the allegation of election campaign finance misconduct to the Election Compliance Audit Committee in 2023.

As part of his suit, Leduc is asking the court to issue an order that would require the City of Greater Sudbury to appoint new members to the Election Compliance Audit Committee "for any further proceedings related to the plaintiff's election campaign finances." 

Lawyer says Leduc is experiencing emotional distress, anxiety

The statement of claim says Rioux's statements "were false" and "made with malice and the intent to harm Leduc's reputation."

It goes on to state that Leduc suffered emotional distress and anxiety, among other harms.

As for the city's Election Compliance Audit Committee, the statement of claim argues that Leduc was not given a full and fair opportunity to respond to Rioux's allegations. 

It also claims there was bias in the decision making process, "as evidenced by undue reliance on Rioux's unproven allegations." 

CBC News contacted Rioux who said she will soon provide comment to media.

It is alleged, in the statement of claim, that the committee made its decision out of "political motivations rather than genuine concerns about election integrity." 

Earlier in May, KPMG LLP conducted an independent audit of Leduc's campaign finances and concluded there "appeared to be contraventions to the Municipal Elections Act" in relation to Leduc's 2022 municipal election campaign finances.

The legal action launched by the city committee earlier in July is set to be heard through the Provincial Offences Court in the coming months. 

If found guilty, Leduc could be forced to forfeit his seat on council and would not be eligible to be elected or appointed to any municipal office until after the next regular election.