Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
Local · 15th April 2011
Zelda Wamutta
It's the calm before the storm in Union Bay.
The Union Bay Improvement District AGM is scheduled for Saturday, April 30th at 2PM. No doubt there will be some questions from the floor concerning the $68,224.89 which has been spent of public money in legal expenses for UBID to sue Landowner Mary Reynolds for defamation on her blog. The case hasn't reached trial yet so the total costs will undoubtably go up much higher.
"What the 'bleep' are we paying for this case anyways" asked one Union Bay resident who wished to remain unnamed. "That money could have gone towards buying a badly needed fire truck. Who cares about what anyone said about a Trustee? If you can't take the heat, don't run for office!"
In last week's RECORD, journalist Scott Stanfield wrote an article entitled "UBID cannot sue?", or as the article was headlined in the on-line edition of the RECORD, "Union Bay body does 'not have legal capacity' to sue ratepayer - lawyer".
The lawyer which Scott Standfield is referring to is Jason Gratl, the Vice President of the BC Civil Liberties Association, who is the solicitor for the Defendant Mary Reynolds.
If Mr. Gratl is correct in his statement, it begs the question: could this legal action be considered a frivolous lawsuit which has no merit and is therefore, a waste of Union Bay taxpayers' money?
Being a curious person (and a bit concerned about where my tax money is going), I decided to do a little research on this subject. I went straight to the source of the quote and here is what I came up with:
According to the Notice of Application filed on January 27, 2011 signed by Jason Gratl himself, Point Three states as follows:
"An Order striking the claim by the Union Bay Improvement District on the basis that municipal entities lack the legal capacity to bring actions in defamation against their constituents."
(See http://unionbaynewsnow.blogspot.com/2011/04/notice-of-application-jason-gratl.html for entire document which is posted on the Union Bay News Now blog.)
The document continues with a paragraph entitled "Legal Basis" which continues under Point 2 as follows:
"The Applicant says that it is contrary to s.2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for UBID to seek to restrict the defendant's right to free expression. The Applicant says that to allow elected trustees or employees of a municipal entity to do what the municipal entity itself cannot lawfully do would be to undermine the principles set out in Dixon v. Powell River."
My inquiring mind decided to look up the Dixon v. Powell River case to see what the case was all about. Here's a synopsis which gives the gist of the case:
"[Judge] Garson makes it clear that Canada's commitment to democratic values in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives citizens a fundamental right not only to speak out against the government, but, what is perhaps of even greater importance, the right of everyone to hear such criticism of the government."
It quotes John Dixon as explaining the case as follows: "This is a clean win for civil liberties, but it stains the reputation of Powell River, and I would have preferred that it never went to court. The simple lesson is that it is illegal for governments to try to silence critical voters with threats of lawsuits. It shouldn't have taken an expensive Supreme Court lawsuit for the Mayor and Council to get it."
See the attachment "Dixon v. Powell River" below for the document in its entirety.
On a different but related subject, two new Trustees will be elected to the Union Bay Improvement District Board at the AGM on April 30th. So far TAG ("Taxpayers for Accountable Governance") candidates Anne Alcock and Carol Molstad are the only candidates who have declared their candidacy. It's unknown whether incumbent Trustees Denis Royer or David Godfrey will run for re-election. The remaining Trustees to continue serving on the UBID Board are Alan De Jersey (currently UBID Chair) and the two other TAG candidates Bruce Livesey and Cleve Goldswain. if Alcock and Molstad are elected, TAG will control the majority vote of UBID.
Just how the new UBID Board will proceed with the defamation case against Resident Mary Reynolds remains to be seen.
The Union Bay Improvement District AGM is scheduled for Saturday, April 30th at 2PM. No doubt there will be some questions from the floor concerning the $68,224.89 which has been spent of public money in legal expenses for UBID to sue Landowner Mary Reynolds for defamation on her blog. The case hasn't reached trial yet so the total costs will undoubtably go up much higher.
"What the 'bleep' are we paying for this case anyways" asked one Union Bay resident who wished to remain unnamed. "That money could have gone towards buying a badly needed fire truck. Who cares about what anyone said about a Trustee? If you can't take the heat, don't run for office!"
In last week's RECORD, journalist Scott Stanfield wrote an article entitled "UBID cannot sue?", or as the article was headlined in the on-line edition of the RECORD, "Union Bay body does 'not have legal capacity' to sue ratepayer - lawyer".
The lawyer which Scott Standfield is referring to is Jason Gratl, the Vice President of the BC Civil Liberties Association, who is the solicitor for the Defendant Mary Reynolds.
If Mr. Gratl is correct in his statement, it begs the question: could this legal action be considered a frivolous lawsuit which has no merit and is therefore, a waste of Union Bay taxpayers' money?
Being a curious person (and a bit concerned about where my tax money is going), I decided to do a little research on this subject. I went straight to the source of the quote and here is what I came up with:
According to the Notice of Application filed on January 27, 2011 signed by Jason Gratl himself, Point Three states as follows:
"An Order striking the claim by the Union Bay Improvement District on the basis that municipal entities lack the legal capacity to bring actions in defamation against their constituents."
(See http://unionbaynewsnow.blogspot.com/2011/04/notice-of-application-jason-gratl.html for entire document which is posted on the Union Bay News Now blog.)
The document continues with a paragraph entitled "Legal Basis" which continues under Point 2 as follows:
"The Applicant says that it is contrary to s.2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for UBID to seek to restrict the defendant's right to free expression. The Applicant says that to allow elected trustees or employees of a municipal entity to do what the municipal entity itself cannot lawfully do would be to undermine the principles set out in Dixon v. Powell River."
My inquiring mind decided to look up the Dixon v. Powell River case to see what the case was all about. Here's a synopsis which gives the gist of the case:
"[Judge] Garson makes it clear that Canada's commitment to democratic values in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives citizens a fundamental right not only to speak out against the government, but, what is perhaps of even greater importance, the right of everyone to hear such criticism of the government."
It quotes John Dixon as explaining the case as follows: "This is a clean win for civil liberties, but it stains the reputation of Powell River, and I would have preferred that it never went to court. The simple lesson is that it is illegal for governments to try to silence critical voters with threats of lawsuits. It shouldn't have taken an expensive Supreme Court lawsuit for the Mayor and Council to get it."
See the attachment "Dixon v. Powell River" below for the document in its entirety.
On a different but related subject, two new Trustees will be elected to the Union Bay Improvement District Board at the AGM on April 30th. So far TAG ("Taxpayers for Accountable Governance") candidates Anne Alcock and Carol Molstad are the only candidates who have declared their candidacy. It's unknown whether incumbent Trustees Denis Royer or David Godfrey will run for re-election. The remaining Trustees to continue serving on the UBID Board are Alan De Jersey (currently UBID Chair) and the two other TAG candidates Bruce Livesey and Cleve Goldswain. if Alcock and Molstad are elected, TAG will control the majority vote of UBID.
Just how the new UBID Board will proceed with the defamation case against Resident Mary Reynolds remains to be seen.
(Dixon_v._Powell_River.doc)