A noteworthy finding

The Cons' efforts to break a contract with former candidate Alan Riddell then stonewall against his resulting claim have apparently come to an end, as Riddell has won his lawsuit against the party:

The Conservative party has been ordered to pay up to $50,000 to a former candidate who agreed to step aside for a star recruit in the last election.

A judge has ruled that the party had no right to renege on agreement struck with Alan Riddell, who stepped aside as the candidate in Ottawa South so that Allan Cutler, the bureaucrat who blew the whistle on the sponsorship scandal, could carry the party banner in the riding.

The party had argued that the agreement was void because Riddell broke a confidentiality clause, telling the media the party had agreed to pay him up to $50,000 to cover expenses he'd incurred in running for the nomination.

For all the justified concerns about the Cons' consistent effort to shoot the messengers of any undesired statements both within their party and in the public service, the decision should offer a hint that such a strategy isn't going to be met with any better reception in the courts than in the wider public. Which leaves only the question of whether PMS and company will learn that it might be worth changing that pattern - or whether they'll instead choose to deal with far larger consequences down the road.