The father of a Saanich murder victim is being sued for defamation by the mother of his late daughter’s then-boyfriend.
Plaintiff Shirley Zailo, a Victoria realtor, filed a civil defamation suit against Jeff Buziak, the father of Lindsay Buziak, on April 25 over comments appearing on a website he owns. Another defendant, Jane Kavanagh, is also named in the suit.
In one of Greater Victoria’s high-profile unsolved cases, Lindsay, then 24, was showing a home in Saanich when she was stabbed to death on Feb. 2, 2008. Her boyfriend at the time, Jason Zailo, was the first to find her body though he was cleared as a suspect and no other suspects were ever named.
No response to the civil suit has been filed to the courts as of May 11. Zailo’s submission says posts on the website infer that she murdered Lindsay, planned and participated in the murder, and that readers are led to believe she’s evil, a psychopath and is guilty. It also points to posts purporting Zailo stabbed Lindsay.
The lawsuit claims those posts were authored by Kavanagh, using a fake name “Robin.” The posts range from June 2019 and October 2021.
Zailo’s claim also alleges the posts infer she bribed the Saanich Police Department and that SPD is covering up facts to protect the plaintiff.
The website posts are false, malicious and defame Zailo, according to the court document. It says Jeff Baziuk, as the site’s owner and operator, was aware of the defamatory content and has failed to remove it.
The alleged defamation has been used predominantly for the purpose of harming Zailo and exposing her to hatred, ridicule and contempt, the lawsuit says. That’s caused her to be shunned, avoided and humiliated, and has increased Zailo’s mental suffering, the filing goes on to say.
The suit looks to hold Buziak and Kavanagh jointly liable for damages. It adds Zailo has lost income, and that her reputation has been damaged. Among the damages sought, Zailo wants the defamatory publications to cease.
None of the allegations in the suit have been heard or proven in court.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
