Alliston councillor suing owner of news site for $1.25 million

Lawsuit prompted by Facebook posts

By Brad Pritchard Alliston Herald

An Alliston councillor has filed a $1.25-million defamation lawsuit against the owner of a local news website.

A statement of claim filed by Coun. Marc Biss seeks $1 million in general damages and $250,000 in punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages over alleged comments made by Alliston resident Tony Veltri on his madhunt.com Facebook page and other webpages dating back to May 2015.

The lawsuit was partially prompted by a lengthy Facebook post that followed a Jan. 11, 2017, committee meeting during which councillors turned down a developer’s $1-million offer to purchase the naming rights to the New Tecumseth Recreation Centre.

The lawsuit references a number of Veltri’s alleged comments, including “as dumb as that statement really is” and a vulgar comment about the developer’s supposed reaction to comments made by Biss, who represents New Tecumseth’s Ward 1.

The claim says the comments paint Biss as “unintelligent” and “incompetent.”

The statement also accuses Veltri of suggesting Biss was “colluding with the developer to gain an advantage” in another comment.

“The suggestion or innuendo of backroom dealings between Mr. Biss and a developer is false and defamatory,” reads the statement.

The lawsuit further claims that Veltri’s comments about the councillor’s business dealings were “maliciously calculated to embarrass” him and his family.

The statement also references a Facebook post made in October about the ward boundary review petition, which was started by Veltri. The post allegedly criticizes Biss for “apparently calling people” on the review.

“This statement is false and suggests Mr. Biss abuses his position as an elected official and places his personal interest above the public good,” reads the statement.

The lawsuit claims other comments made Biss appear to be “disingenuous or a liar,” “unethical” and “mentally ill and unfit to hold office.”

None of the accusations has been proven in court. A statement of defence has not yet been filed.

Veltri referred all questions to his legal counsel, Alliston lawyer Kevin Kemp.

“Mr. Veltri intends to vigorously defend the allegations made against him,” Kemp wrote in an email.

Veltri, a former newspaper reporter who worked at The Herald in the early 1990s, started the madhunt.com website in 1999.