Dangerous lawsuit against citizen filed by Ontario township

Montague councillors suing local citizen
for criticizing volunteer fire department

Smiths Falls (8 Dec. 2005) - Britain has a law that forbids governments from suing citizens, no matter how critical they may be. So do a number of other countries.

The reasoning behind such statutes is that it's in the public interest to encourage free and open debate in society, and any action to the contrary is considered detrimental to democracy.

There is no such law in Canada and thus the small Township of Montague, about a hour southwest of Ottawa, is pressing ahead with a defamation suit against a local citizen who has publicly criticized the performance of the local volunteer fire department.

It is a rare, if not unprecedented, case in Canada, and one that has dangerous implications for anyone who locks horns with municipal officials. If the township wins, it essentially means that local councils can use local tax money to stifle dissent by the very people who are paying their legal bills.

The case focuses on Donald Page, a retired public employee, who filed a complaint last January with the Ontario fire marshall's office over a fire in which a local woman lost her life. He alleges that local volunteers lacked the training and leadership required to do their jobs.

Doyle, Schoular, Eckersley, Richards and Carroll

Soon afterward he received a letter from the township threatening legal action unless his complaint was withdrawn. He refused to back down and a lawsuit was filed in August, seeking $50,000 for alleged "willful vilification" of the township, its reeve, council, senior fire service managers and firefighters.

Members of the council are Gary Doyle, a drywall business operator from Smiths Falls who has been the township reeve for more than a decade and who also sits on the Lanark County Council; David Schoular, a business consultant who is the deputy reeve; Bill Eckersley, also a businessman; Lita Richards, a member of the Montague Public School Council, and Vince Carroll.

The case comes up in court on Dec. 22 and it is being watched closely by free speech advocates across the country.

One of the groups drawn into the case (after being a alerted by a local ratepayers association) is the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, headed by well-known Toronto lawyer Alan Borovoy.

He told CanWest News Service the case has implications for citizens everywhere who are openly critical of the way that municipal governments (which are often the least-scrutinized and most secretive to begin with) carry out their business.

"A lot of them are going to be chilled out of (voicing criticisms) when they hear somebody is being sued for it," Borovoy said.

Implications for unions and other groups

The case is especially worrisome for groups like labour unions, which have a natural adversarial relationship with municipal councils.

Local councils tend to be disproportionately comprised of establishment-minded local businessmen and citizens who are ideologically opposed to unions. Presumably, many would be happy to use the precedent such a case might offer to inhibit the activities of such dissident groups.

In Canada, politicians enjoy immunity in Parliament and provincial legislatures from any statements they make about each other or about citizens in general. They cannot be sued if their statements are made inside Parliament or the legislature.

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is monitoring the case and will keep members up to date on developments. NUPGE

More information:
• Montague Township web site
• Montague Ratepayers' Association

Web posted by NUPGE: 8 December 2005

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