Cal Wenzel suing Mayor Nenshi for $6M

[Yakbutter]

Stuff like this really annoys me. The Legal system is not some tool for rich turds to try and get the last word in on someone. It's there to settle serious matters and shouldn't be clogged up with frivolous garbage like this.

There should be some sort of punishment for bringing forward cases like this.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Yakbutter

Stuff like this really annoys me. The Legal system is not some tool for rich turds to try and get the last word in on someone. It's there to settle serious matters and shouldn't be clogged up with frivolous garbage like this.

There should be some sort of punishment for bringing forward cases like this.

There is, though it's perhaps not enough of a deterrent for someone with plenty of money. The losing party normally pays costs to the winner, calculated by a schedule to the rules of court, based on the quantum of the damages sought. It's hard to be exact, but a costs award in a case like this could exceed $35,000, even if the trial is relatively simple.

[para transit fellow]

fact checking moment:

i recently saw on twitter that someone questioned whether mr. wenzel actually lives in Calgary.

Without releasing private information (i.e. actual street address), could some confirm that Cal Wenzel actually lives in Calgary?

Maybe we could discuss which neighborhood he lives in?

[4X4]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Let's be clear, This Wenzel is a weasel of very high magnitude. Sure he donates to charity, but as others have noted it does not make you a good person. More often than not there is a motive or objective to giving such large amounts, such as vanity projects, or helping the image of the company so they get more business, or curry favour with politicians.

Now to me Nenshi isn't completely innocent on this. Didn't he help set the tone last year when he demanded a published apology from another one of the weasel home builders over comments made? I know it isn't a lawsuit, but he has started the cyclical chain with these grease balls.

To be clear, he is doing the right thing. This city could not continue with the Ric McIver and Barbs cow towing to these people. However, I think the mayor could have thought through this a bit more tactfully when he started demanding published apologies over things he didn't like.

So is it official? Anyone in the home building industry is a weasel? Or is there some weasel criteria? Like if you build cookie cutter houses in the burbs, you're a weasel? Or is it just if you build anything within the city limits?

This is like the pickup truck thing that was so popular here on cp a couple years ago. Anyone driving a pickup is some dbag affliction shirt, crazy driving, granny killer. Doesn't matter if you use it for work, or just to tow a camper, driving a pickup truck makes you an a-hole. And now it's home builders. Anything to do with home building, and you're a proponent of urban sprawl, and are practically stealing from taxpayers because of Seb's Subsidy.

How many of you guys live in houses? You do realize that houses are built by home builders, right?

As for the bolded sentence, the weasel you're talking about is Charron Unger. He's the president of Avi Urban. That's a company that builds multi family developments. Isn't that what you guys want? Higher density? That's what he builds. Buuuut, he's a weasel anyway, right? Because he builds homes.

[Smartcar]

Since he's being sued for comments made as mayor I'd expect we taxpayers will be paying for the defense. I say don't apologize (for what), I'm happy to pay my share.

[Tyler]

The Rick Bells of the world seem to think that Nenshi has to go out and hire a bunch of City lawyers. There's a good reason The City has an entire legal team. They're kind of at the disposal of The City for a reason.

[Slava]

I've read in a couple places that the city (taxpayers) are on the hook for things, not including defamation. I guess there is a process to this where Nenshi would have to ask for coverage and an open council meeting would approve it.

[Smartcar]

Maybe for damage awards, not for defense of frivolous claims for things a City official or politician may have said that are true, or fair comment.

[SebC]

Regarding Charron Ungar, fearmongering over an "effective development freeze" is certainly weaselly behaviour.

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by SebC

Regarding Charron Ungar, fearmongering over an "effective development freeze" is certainly weaselly behaviour.

You can't spell weasel without Wenzel. Actually you could, but you get the point.

[Kelekin]

I have alerted his holiness, Mr. Cal Wenzel Esq. of Shane Homes, to the egregious lies and slander provided by this forum. Each and every one of you will be slapped with a defamation suit at $6 million per person, or roughly the cost of owning your own personal piece of Shane Homes cookie cutter suburbia on the edge of the city.

P.S. - Each additional tear shed by Mr. Cal Wenzel due to your mockery will add $10,000 in punitive damages to the total he seeks. The tears will be bottled up and provided for the court.

[Minnie]

Make sure the label you slap on the bottle says "Cal Wenzel's Injured Feelings." Alternatively, you could title it "Butthurt Builder's Tears."

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

But that's not obvious defamation. Defamation has to be, usually, false information.

His reputation was tarnished, might have even been because of Nenshi. Was the information false? That's the bigger issue.

Would saying (or inferring so that people thought) that it was illegal be grounds for defamation?

I also wonder if Wenzel has found out who leaked the video and if it could be tied to Nenshi, then in discovery/corss examination Nenshi doesnt think he knows and then they can catch him in a lie.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by 4X4

So is it official? Anyone in the home building industry is a weasel? Or is there some weasel criteria? Like if you build cookie cutter houses in the burbs, you're a weasel? Or is it just if you build anything within the city limits?

You're right in that people are becoming too emotionally invested in Us vs. Them. And, although I like Nenshi, antagonizing builders - whether or not they are working to undermine his vision for the city - is not good policy, and only makes his enemies more determined to escalate in turn.

That being said, the perception that the construction industry has far too great an influence at city hall did not arise out of nowhere. Yes, people need places to live and work. However, if the consequences of the way we provide those places is more and more money being spent on giant interchanges and LRT lines, you have to look at what the long-term consequences of that may be, and try to plan accordingly to minimize the impact.

Then, when the City starts doing that planning, and representatives of one particular industry - whose interest in the status quo is obvious - begins working against any and all such changes in a confrontational and public way, the result is going to be polarization of people on one side or the other of the issue. I think it'll get much worse in the next few years, too, because Calgary has become big enough that power blocs are forming up and asserting themselves against each other to make over the city in their preferred image.

Nenshi's problem is that he can't really arbitrate between blocs because he is foremost leader of his own. We haven't had an activist type of mayor before, and it seems unnatural to many people. Yet again, though, big city means big city mayors, and those tend to be much more front and centre than the Chamber of Commerce graduates you find in smaller jurisdictions. It's going to be interesting times in Calgary over the next decade.

[Muffins]

Originally Posted by para transit fellow

fact checking moment:

i recently saw on twitter that someone questioned whether mr. wenzel actually lives in Calgary.

Without releasing private information (i.e. actual street address), could some confirm that Cal Wenzel actually lives in Calgary?

Maybe we could discuss which neighborhood he lives in?

He lives in Springbank. I wont say which area because all you would have to do is drive around and find the d-bagiest house in the neighborhood and that's his.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by 4X4

So is it official? Anyone in the home building industry is a weasel? Or is there some weasel criteria? Like if you build cookie cutter houses in the burbs, you're a weasel? Or is it just if you build anything within the city limits?

Personally, I take it on a case by case basis and my default is set to 'Do Not Trust'. I mentioned in another thread that the subsidy is a bit like a loophole so one should direct their anger at the game instead of the players. However, when the players start to treat the game as a divine right and act like weasels then at that point I think the label is fair.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Let's be clear, This Wenzel is a weasel of very high magnitude. Sure he donates to charity, but as others have noted it does not make you a good person. More often than not there is a motive or objective to giving such large amounts, such as vanity projects, or helping the image of the company so they get more business, or curry favour with politicians.

Now to me Nenshi isn't completely innocent on this. Didn't he help set the tone last year when he demanded a published apology from another one of the weasel home builders over comments made? I know it isn't a lawsuit, but he has started the cyclical chain with these grease balls.

To be clear, he is doing the right thing. This city could not continue with the Ric McIver and Barbs cow towing to these people. However, I think the mayor could have thought through this a bit more tactfully when he started demanding published apologies over things he didn't like.

Clearly you don’t know or have ever met the man. You can bitch all you want about his business tactics all you want....that's fair. Mind you it is no different than what many other business leaders do in this city. If you think the home builders are bad do some digging into the type of lobbying the big developers do. It makes the home builders look like amateurs.

Still my point it no matter what you think of Cal's business ethics he is a fair and generous person. To make the connection that he is only donating to charity out of ego or tact is just bull####!

[SebC]

Originally Posted by jammies

You're right in that people are becoming too emotionally invested in Us vs. Them. And, although I like Nenshi, antagonizing builders - whether or not they are working to undermine his vision for the city - is not good policy, and only makes his enemies more determined to escalate in turn.

To be fair, I don't think Nenshi's doing that. He's made it a point of emphasis that he only takes issue with a specific group of homebuilders.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by rotten42

Clearly you don’t know or have ever met the man. You can bitch all you want about his business tactics all you want....that's fair. Mind you it is no different than what many other business leaders do in this city. If you think the home builders are bad do some digging into the type of lobbying the big developers do. It makes the home builders look like amateurs.

Still my point it no matter what you think of Cal's business ethics he is a fair and generous person. To make the connection that he is only donating to charity out of ego or tact is just bull####!

Saying "others are worse" doesn't exactly help your cause nor does trying to seperate his business and personal ethics, but I guess that helps some people sleep better at night, worshipping the dollar by day and trying to "give back" by night.

Homebuilders have had a pretty good run in this province including free reign to build on ####ing flood plains and claim zero responsibility for that.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by 4X4

This is like the pickup truck thing that was so popular here on cp a couple years ago. Anyone driving a pickup is some dbag affliction shirt, crazy driving, granny killer. Doesn't matter if you use it for work, or just to tow a camper, driving a pickup truck makes you an a-hole. .

Well, if it matters, I always said you were the exception to the rule 4x4!