A Quebec Woman Who Sued Trudeau For $90k After He Called Her Out For Racism Just Lost

"Ill-founded and abusive" is how superior court judge Michèle Monast described a Quebec woman's defamation lawsuit against Justin Trudeau. In a decision published on November 29, Monast shot down Diane Blain's case against the prime minister.

The lawsuit followed a 2018 incident at a Liberal party rally in Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois, Quebec, in which Blain asked Trudeau when he would "give back the 146 million [Quebec] paid" to support what she called Trudeau's "illegal immigrants."

In response, Trudeau told Blain that "this intolerance toward immigrants has no place in Canada, this intolerance toward diversity, you have no place here."

Throughout the event, Blain confronted him and asked several times if he was "tolerant of the Québécois de souche" — people who claim descent from French colonizers.

"Madame, your racism has no place here," Trudeau responded before RCMP officers intervened.

In her lawsuit, Blain sought a total of $90,000 in compensation from Trudeau for what a court document describes as "distress, stress, and inconvenience caused to her" as a result of the 2018 interaction, as well as a perceived "infringement of her freedom of expression and opinion and her right to be treated without discrimination," among other claims.

But Judge Monast wasn't having any of it.

In her decision to dismiss the lawsuit, Monast wrote that "Ms. Blain's assertion that Mr. Trudeau's comments about her were defamatory and that he damaged her reputation is not supported by any evidence."

She cited a testimony that she said "was replete with contradictions, exaggerations and implausibilities" and concluded that Blain's "lack of civility, the aggressive tone in which she asked her questions" and, among other things, "her hostile attitude" demonstrated "that she was trying to provoke him."

Monast called Trudeau's response to her first question "legitimate" and said "it was not unreasonable" for Trudeau to "consider, in such a context, that Ms. Blain's comments indicated some racism."

"She testified that she found it offensive and hurtful to be told that she was intolerant and racist toward immigrants because she does not consider herself to be an intolerant and racist person," Monast wrote.

"The statements she has made on various occasions, her social media posts, and the testimony she gave during her examination for discovery and at trial unfortunately indicate otherwise."

The judge concluded by accusing Blain of using the event to "gain notoriety and to promote her political ideas."

"It is not unreasonable to conclude, as suggested by Mr. Trudeau's counsel, that she initiated legal proceedings against Mr. Trudeau for the same reasons."

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.