The Defendant also pleads the defence of fair comment. For the defendants to rely on the defence of fair comment it must establish the following: 1. the words complained of are recognized by the ordinary reader as comment, although the comment may consist of, or include inferences from, facts; 2. the comment is based on true facts set out in the article or clearly indicated therein; 3. the comment is on a matter of public interest; 4. the comment is one which a person could honestly make on the facts proved, and some authorities indicate must, at least where dishonourable motives are imputed, be fair, in the sense that a fair minded person could believe it. Even if a defendants can establish these four criteria, the defence still will fail if the plaintiff shows the defendant was actuated by express malice (see: Hodgson v. Canadian Newspaper Companies, et al., 1998 CanLII 14820 (ON SC), [1998] O.J. No. 2682 p. 108).
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