The federal government has spent nearly $60,000 defending former veterans affairs minister Seamus O’Regan in court, according to documents obtained under access to information laws.

The cost stems from a defamation case launched against him by a veterans’ rights activist who is seeking $25,000 in damages.

Activist Sean Bruyea, the plaintiff in the case, filed an Access to Information request to the Justice Department, uncovering the mounting legal bill.

“I was shocked,” Bruyea said. “They are willing to spend more than twice the amount in the small-claims court action than what it would have cost to settle.”

The whole case surrounds O’Regan’s handling of a column Bruyea wrote in The Hill Times in February of 2018, criticizing the proposed changes to the disabled Armed Forces pensions, which come into effect this month.

Bruyea determined some veterans who apply under the new system will receive less overall than those who had applied under the new system.

In response, O’Regan submitted a rebuttal column to The Hill Times, accusing Bruyea of misleading the public to satisfy his own agenda.

Veterans Affairs official even told O’Regan’s office that Bruyea’s claims were mostly correct, but O’Regan still accused Bruyea of  “stating mistruths.”

As a result, Bruyea sued O’Regan for defamation in May in small-claims court, seeking $25,000 in restitution.

It doesn’t happen all that often,” said Rory Fowler, a military lawyer.

Fowler said taxpayers may be forced to pay the entire legal costs because O’Regan is a member of the government.

“The Crown could be held vicariously liable for the actions of its servants and the minister of the Crown could be a servant,” he said.

O’Regan, now Indigenous Services Minister, asked the court to throw out Bruyea’s suit, claiming O’Regan column was for the public good, therefore outweighed the damage that could have been done to Bruyea.

Bruyea, however, remains defiant, believing that O’Regan’s aggressive response caused him significant harm.

“I’m not suing the minister because of his opinion, I’m suing him because he personally defamed me,” he said.

“I’m prepared for a public debate about the facts with the minister.”

In the middle of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, Justin Trudeau was spotted vacationing in Florida on Monday, March 11th.

Trudeau briefly returned to Ottawa on Tuesday, and then returned to his vacation in Florida on Wednesday.

According to NBC-2, the prime minister’s private jet was seen on the remote North Captiva Island.

The latest vacation comes at a time when Trudeau’s own office is being accused of attempting to politically interfere in a decision of the former Justice Minister and Attorney General, Jody Wilson-Raybould.

According to Wilson-Raybould’s testimony before the Justice Committee, she was the victim of persistent pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene on behalf of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin in a criminal trial.

The U.S. news source alleges that the PM was there vacationing with his family on the south end of the island, which is only accessible by boat. While there, Trudeau had rented out several properties for personal use and for his security team.

Currently, the House of Commons is adjourned for a two week break and is expected to return on March 18th.

Both opposition leaders, Andrew Scheer (CPC) and Jagmeet Singh (NDP) called on the PM to recall the House of Commons on March 1st in an open letter, but the Prime Minister has refused to do so.

Currently there are two ongoing investigations into the SNC-Lavalin allegations. One is being conducted by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, while the other is being done by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

CBC News has apologized for spreading false information about the Covington Catholic School students two months after the network first reported on it.

In January, CBC reported that after the Washington, DC March for Life, a group of students made an offensive chant in the face of a Native American protester, categorizing the students as “teenage bullies.”

The CBC is now acknowledging this claim was false.

A viral video showed what appeared to be one student, wearing a “Make America Great Again,” hat blocking the path of Nathan Phillips, who was counter-protesting at the pro-life rally.

As the video went viral, the students were accused of making offensive and racists remarks at Phillips and trying to start a confrontation with him.

The claims from Phillips and others were widely circulated by the media, including the CBC, including that the students allegedly chanted “build the wall” in Phillips’ face.

These claims any other similar claims reported on my various media outlets turned out to be false, as an independent investigation concluded.

CBC admitted its reporting against the students was actually based on comments from Phillips himself, which was not disclosed to the public at the time, and reported on as if it were fact.

The Covington student at the centre of the now infamous photos and videos, Nick Sandmann, is suing American media giant CNN for over $250 million for reporting similar claims to make what his lawsuit characterizes as“vicious” and “direct” attacks against him.

CBC ended its short retraction by apologizing for characterizing the students as “teenage bullies” at the time.

Seeing that its false reporting caused significant damage to the students and spread a false narrative to the public, It remains unclear why CBC would so eagerly report on unverified claims in the first place.