Judge 'tough but fair' in Abbotsford man's People's Party lawsuit: lawyer

The Federal Court of Canada judge overseeing an Abbotsford man’s lawsuit to claim rights to the People’s Party of Canada name was “tough but fair,” the claimant’s lawyer says.

Satinder Singh Dhillon took Maxime Bernier, the renegade former Conservative Party leadership contender, and his party, the People’s Party of Canada, to court claiming he owns the rights to the name of that party.

That lawsuit had its day in the Federal Court of Canada in Montreal on Thursday for a one-day hearing, which Dean Davison, Dhillon’s lawyer, said ended with a reserved judgement.

It’s never entirely clear when a judge will return with a judgement, but Davison said he assumes “soon as this is a timely issue,” in an email Friday.

Davison added that it’s “hard to say with a judge” when asked whether he was hopeful for a ruling on his side.

“But [the] judge appeared knowledgeable about the case and the fact that he did not give the judgement immediately suggests he is giving it the review it deserves,” Davison said.

The key points made by the claimants included that Dhillon is quoted using the name People’s Party of Canada first, in a 2015 Times of Canada magazine article and that he applied for name with Elections Canada first.

He added that Bernier “did almost nothing to protect the name even though if he was serious, one would expect him to take reasonable steps to protect the use of his name.”

As well, Davison noted that Bernier did not swear an affidavit in his evidence for the hearing.

“One would think he would swear an affidavit stating the usage and importance to his party,” he said. “All evidence was in affidavit form for the injunction.”

Although Dhillon applied for the name with Elections Canada first, Benier’s party returned the requisite 250 signatures first, which Dhillon and Davison have said could have been affected by the Canada Post strike at the time.