Former Surrey city councillor Jack Hundial has issued an apology letter to local developer Bob Cheema as part of a defamation lawsuit settlement.
The lawsuit was filed by Cheema over comments made by Hundial about Cheema at a 2019 council meeting. Hundial asked that city staff advise council at its next meeting in what capacity Cheema attended, why he was present, and what advice he provided at the meeting. He also asked why the mayor’s personal friend, with no official status with the City of Surrey, would meet with the solicitor general, noting the topic of the meeting was listed as traffic fine revenue sharing.
In a Notice of Civil Claim filed Oct. 4, Cheema alleges Hundial’s assertions implied he was of “unethical, dishonest and of disreputable character” and denies being at the meeting in question.
Now former city councillor Jack Hundial has issued an apology to Cheema as part of an out-of-court defamation settlement, saying his statements represent a “grave slur” on the businessman’s “personal and professional integrity.”
Hundial mentions in the letter dated November 18, 2024, “Beginning in September, I made several statements about Bob Cheema that were false. As such, my statements represent a grave slur on his personal and professional integrity and have caused him and his family considerable distress and embarrassment. I now accept my error in publishing the statements and recognize the considerable damage they have done to Mr. Cheema. I unreservedly apologize to Mr Cheema, and I fully withdraw and retract, without reservation, the prior statements I published about him. I have also agreed to pay Mr. Cheema a substantial sum by way of damages in settlement of his legal costs.”
council in which he asked questions about Bob Cheema’s apparent attendance at a Nov. 2, 2018 meeting between McCallum and the Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, according to the minister’s online itinerary.
