Former Olivia Chow strategist Warren Kinsella is proceeding with a $100,000 lawsuit against John Tory campaign official Nick Kouvalis for tweets he alleges are defamatory.

The Twitter showdown in question dates back to late August, when Kouvalis tweeted: “The campaign made a very smart move dumping Kinsella et al today.” The message came shortly after the Chow camp announced Kinsella would “step back” from the day-to-day affairs of the campaign, but would stay on as a volunteer.

That announcement came in the wake of a controversial tweet from Kinsella, who wrote that Tory’s SmartTrack transit plan was “segregationist.” He later deleted the tweet and issued an apology.

In his statement of claim filed in September, Kinsella, a political and communications consultant who served as Chow’s war room chief, said that he resigned from his “volunteer position” on Aug. 24.

“He was not dismissed, fired or ‘dumped,’” reads the statement. “The Olivia Chow campaign repeatedly requested his return, and he declined.”

The statement lists other subsequent tweets made by Kouvalis referring to Kinsella. These include: a tweet saying “Waiting for Warren Kinsella to sue me. I think he’s trying to hide” and one indicating that Kouvalis had “never had so many pro bone (sic) offers” to represent him in a potential legal proceeding against Kinsella. The statement also refers to a tweet where Kouvalis said Kinsella was a child and a failure, but did not quote the exact wording.

The tweets “lowered the reputation of the plaintiff in the minds of right thinking people,” reads the statement. Kinsella alleges in the statement that Kouvalis “acted with extreme malice.” Aside from damages, Kinsella wants Kouvalis to retract his statements on Twitter.

In his statement of defence, filed on Friday, Kouvalis said the tweets were fair comment “on a matter of public interest, being the false and inflammatory allegations of racism by the plaintiff, a political consultant allied with the Chow campaign, against another candidate, John Tory.”

Kouvalis, who wants the lawsuit dismissed with costs, also points out in his statement that his initial tweet was “republished” by Kinsella and his lawyer on Twitter and on Kinsella’s website. The statement also says that Kinsella is in fact a “loser” as candidates for whom he has worked “had been defeated on several occasions” by candidates for whom Kouvalis was employed.

Kouvalis said on Friday he would not comment on the lawsuit and that his focus was on Tory's campaign.

“I'll direct my attention to this matter after the election is completed on Oct. 27,” he said.

Kinsella told the Star to talk to his lawyer, David Shiller, who said “Mr. Kouvalis made a false statement about Warren. He knows that. We intend to litigate this matter very aggressively, and we intend to win.”

With files from Jennifer Pagliaro

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