Qualicum Beach Mayor Teunis Westbroek has issued a public apology and agreed to pay $130,000 to settle a defamation suit brought against him by two local prominent businessmen.
The apology was published in Wednesday’s edition of the Parksville Qualicum Beach News.
Other than confirming that the civil matter was settled, Westbroek had no other comment on Friday.
Ken Schley, John Briuolo and Kelland Foods Holdings Ltd., a company they control, initiated the lawsuit against Westbroek in April 2021, filing a claim in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
The businessmen are well-known as the founders of the Quality Foods group of supermarkets. The group included the Qualicum Food store which in 2002 went through a devastating fire.
As of 2017, the Jim Pattison Group became the sole owner of Quality Foods. It has 13 Vancouver Island stores and an office and distribution centre.
In his published statement, Westbroek apologizes to Schley and Briuolo for “defamatory statements I made to members of the council and members of the senior staff of the Town of Qualicum Beach in late 2020 and early 2021.”
Westbroek said that on “multiple separate occasions” he repeated the statements. At the time Westbroek was a council member for the town. He was elected as mayor in 2022, a position he held previously from 1999 to 2018.
“On multiple separate occasions I stated that Mr. Schley and Mr. Briuolo had ‘burnt down their grocery store (Qualicum Foods)’,” Westbroek’s statement says. “I retract these statements and publicly acknowledge that neither Mr. Schley nor Mr. Briuolo played any role in causing the fire.”
Westbroek said it was wrong to have have made the statements he did.
“I am remorseful for my actions,” he says in his statement.
“I sincerely apologize to both Mr. Schley and Mr. Briuolo, both of whom I acknowledge to be successful businessmen and pillars of the community, for the very significant damage my defamatory statements have caused to their otherwise impeccable and well-deserved reputation for honesty and integrity.”
Westbroek said he had ample opportunity to apologize but did not do so until an examination for discovery on Oct. 18, 2022. “I failed to make the apology public until today, on the eve of trial, which was set to proceed on Feb. 21, 2023.”
The trial is not going ahead because Schley and Briuolo have discontinued the action in exchange for the public apology, $100,000 in damages and $30,000 to reimburse legal fees and out-of-pocket expenses relating to the court case, Westbroek said.
Schley said in a statement released through his lawyer Bryan Baynham that he is relieved that to receive the apology.
“We proudly supported and funded many charities and projects in Qualicum Beach from minor sports, many fundraisers to major initiatives,” the statement says.
“Everything John and I did we took into consideration on how it would impact our community from hiring, buying and building. It was our passion to build a beautiful sustainable community.”
