Challenge to Alain Riel

British Hotel court case postponed

The court case involving Mike Clemann, owner of the British Hotel, and former Deschênes councillor Alain Riel has been postponed again.

“It’s postponed until February. We were supposed to go to court this fall, but the city’s main witnesses were unavailable, and so the defense was able to push back the court date again,” said Clemann. “The defense’s main witnesses are or were municipal employees.”

On October 22, 2013, Mr Clemann’s lawyer, Richard LeBlanc, filed a $750,000 defamation lawsuit against former city councillor Alain Riel. The suit followed Riel’s public comments about renovations at rue Principale’s British Hotel, a recognized heritage property.

Riel insisted he was using a “figure of speech”, claiming the destruction of the building’s west wall was a “criminal act”. Mr Clemann believes this has damaged his reputation.

“It’s unfair, what he said and did. We went through a lot of hardship to finish the job here,” said Clemann. Several authorities have praised the extent and authenticity of the renovations.

Another reason why the owner of the British Hotel wanted the legal challenge is because he suspects Riel used his position as an elected official to access private documents and then used them to make Mr Clemann look bad. Mr Riel did subsequently back away from his comments, but never issued a formal apology.

The Mayor and the city administration declined to comment on the case since it is before the courts. Mr Riel and Mr LeBlanc did not return the Bulletin’s calls.