“A report that someone is under investigation or that they have been arrested for, or charged with, a criminal offence is not considered the ‘equivalent of saying that the person has committed the crime unless there is something in the language of the report that suggests the plaintiff’s guilt’ … However, reports of arrest or charges will be capable of conveying a defamatory meaning, ‘where it is stated, either directly or by clear implication, that an offence has been committed, and the qualifications contained in any of the surrounding statements are not sufficient to outweigh or nullify the effect of what appears to be a plain statement of fact’”.
(Ontario Court of Appeal in TPG Technology Consulting Ltd. v. Canada (Industry Canada) 2012 ONCA 87 (Ont. C.A.))
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