http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=b1b092c8-4b5b-418d-a23b-21166d0dd4ad
Monday » June 16 » 2008
SLAPPs will not be allowed
Bill prevents abuse. Protects groups from strategic lawsuits
KEVIN DOUGHERTY
The Gazette
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis introduced an anti-SLAPP bill yesterday in the National Assembly to block strategic lawsuits against public participation.
The bill, which will be carried over to the fall sitting of the assembly, will amend Quebec's Code of Civil Procedure to allow a judge to throw out legal action judged to be a SLAPP, in other words meant to saddle environmentalist, other public-interest groups or individuals with costly legal bills as a way to silence protests.
Presenting the bill, Dupuis said its purpose is "to prevent abusive use of the courts and promote freedom of expression and citizen participation in public debate."
A $5-million law suit by AIM Inc., a Montreal-based metals company, against environmentalists who alleged AIM was illegally polluting the Etchemin River, near Quebec City, spurred demands for an anti-SLAPP law in the province.
André Bélisle, president of the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique, one of the groups AIM sued, said yesterday he is "very, very pleasantly surprised" by Bill 99.
On Wednesday Bélisle led a demonstration at the minister's Montreal office, calling on Dupuis to move more quickly on the proposal. In the fall of 2006, then-justice minister Yvon Marcoux named McGill University law professor Roderick Macdonald to look into the issue. Macdonald's report was released last summer and hearings on his proposal were held last fall. Bélisle said Bill 99 stuck closely to what Macdonald proposed after reviewing anti-SLAPP laws in other jurisdictions.
The environmentalist, who has been a tireless campaigner for an anti-SLAPP law, said he likes the idea that a judge can throw out a SLAPP, can reverse the burden of proof, so corporate interests, not the party being sued, must prove their claims. But he would like to see the bill amended to ensure a judge rules quickly on a SLAPP, specifying that the corporation has to pay all the defendant's legal costs. And he would like it made clear the law applies to cases now before the courts.
In addition to the AIM case, the operators of a dump in Cantley near Gatineau, which has since been ordered closed, are suing two residents who complained after hydrogen-sulfide gas from the dump killed their two dogs.
Bélisle said his legal battle with AIM "cost a fortune." It ended in an out-of-court settlement preventing Bélisle from talking about it. He said he'd like to see Bill 99 also end such "gag settlements."
kdougherty@thegazette.canwest.com
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2008