Senators owner sues reporter

Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has filed a libel suit against a reporter for the “Ottawa Sun” daily.

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That’s what TSN learned on Tuesday.

The businessman is asking Rick Gibbons for $ 500,000 in compensation for an opinion piece he wrote in June.

In his paper, the author claimed that Melnyk was dishonest, that he tried to divert funds to his own charity for his own benefit, and that he had sunk the Ottawa Senators Foundation by asking it exorbitant rent. .

The “Ottawa Sun”, which is not sued by the owner, had apologized to Melnyk after the text appeared.

Earlier this year, the Senators issued a call for proposals for an association with a new foundation.

This would have followed a refusal of the foundation in place regarding requests from the owner.

The call did not please the Ottawa Senators Foundation, who chose not to participate in the process and thus disassociate themselves from the club. The organization that helped raise more than $ 35 million, which was used to build some fifteen rinks and support many young people in the region, then became the Ottawa-Gatineau Youth Foundation.

In Gibbons’ text it was written that “the team owner wants a good chunk of the money to be directed to other initiatives including his own pet project and donation awareness. ‘organs.’

The reporter declined to answer TSN’s questions regarding this lawsuit.