Conestoga College is looking to the courts to throw out a $200,000-plus defamation suit launched by Sault College last year, following a fiery back-and-forth between the presidents of both schools over the issue of international student enrolment.
In a 15-page statement of defence, Conestoga denied allegations that its president John Tibbits made “false, malicious and defamatory statements,” about Sault College president David Orazietti while speaking to media during a public event.
Both Orazietti and Sault College initially launched a statement of claim against Conestoga and Tibbits in April 2024, after Tibbits called Orazietti a “whore” who needs to learn to “shut his mouth.”
“I can’t stand the guy, by the way,” Tibbits told CambridgeToday at the time.
Tibbits was responding to comments Orazietti made during an appearance on Village Media’s Inside the Village podcast in February 2024.
In their statement of defence, both Conestoga and Tibbits maintain that apologies were issued to Sault College on two separate occasions, noting that the "language used is unacceptable," and that Tibbits "apologizes for the offensive remarks" in a public apology issued on the Conestoga College website.
Conestoga claims that several of the statements made by Tibbits to CambridgeToday — including calling Orazietti a “whore” — were made in “good faith and without malice on an occasion of qualified privilege.”
The defendants also contend that Tibbit’s remarks constitute “opinions that a person could honestly hold,” and therefore, did not “actuate malice.”
“Expressing a dislike of a plaintiff does not constitute actual malice nor does commenting on an individual's experience,” said the statement of defence.
The defendants claim that the plaintiffs did not suffer any damage as a result of Tibbit’s remarks, and neither Sault College nor Orazietti are entitled to the damages being sought in the civil suit.
Lawyers for the defendants have requested a dismissal of the claim — with costs — while proposing that the action be tried in a Kitchener courtroom.
The Conestoga president pointed to Sault College’s partnership with triOS, a private college in the Greater Toronto area, that had approximately 2,800 international students from Sault College enrolled at its Toronto campus under the partnership.
“Like Orazietti, why are his goddamn students in Toronto? Why not up there?” Tibbits said, referring to Sault Ste. Marie during the CambridgeToday interview. “Talk about a whore. I mean, he's taking a percentage of the profits of an operation.”
The chair of the Conestoga College board of governors was served with a notice of libel by Sault College on February 15, 2024 – the day after Tibbits made his remarks – claiming $200,000 in damages, plus interest and court costs, over the statements made by Tibbits about Orazietti.
