Is a statement of both fact and opinion privileged?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Robinson v. Furlong, 2015 BCSC 1690 (CanLII):
Statements of both fact and opinion may attract the defence of privilege, depending on the occasion on which they were made. Some occasions, such as legal proceedings, are absolutely privileged. Others, such as reference letters, “enjoy ‘qualified’ privilege, meaning that the privilege can be defeated by proof that the defendant acted with malice”: Grant v. Torstar, 2009 SCC 61 at para. 30 [Torstar].
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