REGINA - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he is dropping plans for a defamation lawsuit against The Canadian Press over its coverage of the release last week of an old videotape containing offensive comments.
In a brief statement released Monday, Wall also says he will make a statement in the legislature regarding "the events of last week."
Wall's lawyers, in a letter to the national news agency last Friday, had alleged a headline on the initial stories by The Canadian Press about the 16-year-old tape was false and defamatory. The headline, published Thursday, read, "Tape with Sask premier and Tory MP has racist, sexist, homophobic comments: NDP."
The Canadian Press maintained the headline accurately reflected the accusations levelled by the NDP and the news agency declined a demand from the premier's lawyers that it apologize.
The stories last week stemmed from the release by Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP of a video that contained comments from Wall, current Saskatchewan Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski and others while they were working on the 1991 Saskatchewan election campaign.
Wall, at the time a 25-year-old political aide, is seen affecting an Eastern European accent and criticizing then-NDP leader Roy Romanow, a son of Ukrainian immigrants.
Lukiwski, a 40-year-old political organizer at the time, makes disparaging comments about gays.
