Pallister firm on threat to sue Free Press

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This article was published 20/06/2018 (2130 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Brian Pallister says he has no intention of withdrawing his threat to sue the Free Press over its coverage of taxes he may owe on his vacation home in Costa Rica.

Pallister was questioned about the threatened lawsuit in the legislature Thursday — a day after the CBC reported he has failed to have the property assessed, as required by Costa Rican law.

The Free Press first raised questions in an exclusive story in April, about whether Pallister and his wife, through a holding company, owed luxury taxes on their Central American home.

The premier said he would determine whether his home is subject to the tax, and promised to pay any money owed. A little more than a week later, his lawyer sent the Free Press a series of emails threatening legal action.

NDP MLA Andrew Swan said the premier should withdraw the threat and apologize to the newspaper.

“In a democracy, the premier must respect the right of a free press to pursue the truth without fear or favour,” he said. “But instead of respecting this fundamental feature of our democracy, the premier went out to hire a lawyer to try and silence the Free Press.”

Pallister told the legislature he had a right to defend his integrity. He also repeated his promise to determine whether he owed the luxury tax and make his findings public.

Pallister again accused the Free Press of greatly overstating the size of his vacation home, saying it was only “40 per cent” the size the newspaper and other media have reported (7,700 square feet).

However, Pallister’s Central American builder, Jimaco Constructores, continues to list the property on its Facebook site as 715 square metres (7,696 sq. ft.). Jimaco is clearly proud of the job it did, including photos of the house and pool area on the site.

The Free Press and the Globe and Mail published the 7,700-sq.-ft. figure as far back as January 2017. The Free Press was not asked to print a correction at the time. The Globe also confirmed Thursday it has not been asked to correct its story.

In recent weeks, Pallister has said, at various times, his Costa Rica home is 3,200 sq. ft., 3,400 sq. ft. and 3,080 sq. ft. (40 per cent of 7,700).

A civic official in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, told CBC that Pallister has not submitted the required property declaration form at the municipal level since his home was built in 2008. The declaration should have been updated in 2013, said Ramon Guevara, a Santa Cruz department of housing official.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca