Does a defendant have exceeded the limits of the qualified privilege defence by publishing a defamatory statement?

However, I am of the view, and so find, that the defendant has exceeded the limits of the qualified privilege defence by virtue of the defamatory statement not being germane and reasonably appropriate to the occasion. In that regard I follow the dicta of Cartwright J. in Douglas v. Tucker, supra at 286, ... In my view the appellant was entitled to reply to such a charge and his reply would be protected by qualified privilege, but I think it clear that this protection would be lost if in making his reply the appellant went beyond the matters which were reasonably germane to the charge which had been brought against him. It is for the judge alone to rule as a matter of law not only whether the occasion is privileged but also whether the defendant has published something beyond what was germane and reasonably appropriate to the occasion so that the privilege does not extend thereto.