What is the defence of fair comment?

The Defendant also pleads the defence of fair comment. For the defendants to rely on the defence of fair comment it must establish the following: 1. the words complained of are recognized by the ordinary reader as comment, although the comment may consist of, or include inferences from, facts; 2. the comment is based on true facts set out in the article or clearly indicated therein; 3. the comment is on a matter of public interest; 4. the comment is one which a person could honestly make on the facts proved, and some authorities indicate must, at least where dishonourable motives are imputed, be fair, in the sense that a fair minded person could believe it. Even if a defendants can establish these four criteria, the defence still will fail if the plaintiff shows the defendant was actuated by express malice (see: Hodgson v. Canadian Newspaper Companies, et al., 1998 CanLII 14820 (ON SC), [1998] O.J. No. 2682 p. 108).