Don Martin (journalist)

During the Alberta provincial election in 2008, Martin wrote an article about candidate Arthur Kent published in the National Post and Calgary Herald. The "Martin Article" was ruled defamatory in a June, 2016 trial judgment.[2] Kent won $200,000 in damages from Martin and Canada's largest newspaper chain, Postmedia Network Inc.[3]

On January 16, 2017 the trial judge awarded Kent costs of $250,000.[4][5] Kent appealed the decision, asking Alberta's Court of Appeal to find the "intentional strategic decision to conceal" key email records by Martin, the newspapers and their lawyers was, in fact, fraudulent concealment. In a decision on May 25, 2018, the Court of Appeal agreed with Kent, awarding him an additional $200,000 in costs.[6][7] The appeal court's decision reads, in part:

"[8] Finally, in the course of her analysis of the evidence the trial judge found that Mr. Martin’s testimony on key points lacked candor and was unreliable. Where his evidence conflicted with that of other witnesses, the trial judge almost invariably preferred the testimony of the others."[6][7]

The appeal court's decision against Martin and Postmedia has been called "a chastening moment" for lawyers who may view their clients’ disclosure obligations in a lax or indifferent manner.[8][7]

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