Lantos hit with suit

Asper alleges Alliance founder defamed him

TORONTO -- Izzy Asper, one of Canada's most powerful media moguls, has launched a C$7 million ($4.6 million) libel suit against Alliance Communications founder Robert Lantos.

The suit, which Asper's lawyer Mark Freiman filed with the Ontario Court's General Division in Toronto late last week, alleges that Lantos defamed Asper and his companies, and asks for $3.3 million in damages, $660,000 in aggravated damages and $660,000 in punitive damages.

Asper is founder and chairman of CanWest Global Communications, Canada's most profitable private broadcaster.

Lantos left Alliance when it merged with Atlantis and, with his $40 million cut, last fall started up a small private production company, Serendipity Point Films.

Speech at issue

Asper's statement of claim contends that in a speech Lantos gave at a Canadian University last Nov. 12, he implied that Asper and CanWest have been misleading Canadian broadcast regulators for profit, are guilty of fraudulent accounting techniques and are subverting Canada's protectionist cultural regulations, among other things. (Statements of claim can contain unproved allegations.) "It's impugning our reputation as we go forward in our industry, as we do around the world," said CanWest spokesman Bruce Leslie.

'Could be years'

Because both Asper and Lantos are known for their outspokenness and there's no love lost between them, neither is likely to back down anytime soon. "You know how the courts work," Leslie said. "It could be years."

Lantos, who's editing in Europe, did not return calls for comment. His lawyers Edward Greenspan and Brian Rogers must next file a statement of defense.