*NEW – Watch Video of Michael Vonn’s presentation from SLAPP vs Free Speech
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Ontario citizens will now be able to participate in public debates without fear of being slapped with a lawsuit.
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) silence public debate and put a chill on free speech. Today the Protection of Public Participation Act passed third reading and will now become law in the Ontario legislature. The new law promises to reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits without restricting legitimate legal recourse by anyone who is legitimately slandered or libelled. Continue reading
The Seriously Free Speech Committee opposes Kinder Morgan’s SLAPP suit against Burnaby Residents Opposing Pipeline Expansion and four protesters and joins with more than 65 community, environmental and labour groups and thousands of citizens condemning this outrageous attack against citizens’ rights of free speech and protest, including civil disobedience.
The Seriously Free Speech Committee was originally formed to fight this type of legal bullying when CanWest, former owners of The Vancouver Sun, filed a SLAPP suit in 2007 in an attempt to punish those who published a satirical critique of The Sun’s pro-Zionist coverage of the Middle East. Though Canwest went bankrupt and dropped the suit, we’ve continued to advocate for the need to pass anti-SLAPP legislation to stop corporate giants from misusing and abusing the legal system. Continue reading
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Posted in SFSC
Tagged SFSC article, SFSC Letter, SLAPP
By Michaelin Scott and Chris Tollefson
University of Victoria Academic Paper on SLAPP suits published in 2010
Summary: In 2001, the province of British Columbia (BC) became the first Canadian jurisdiction to enact anti-SLAPP legislation. While this legislation proved to be short lived, the BC experience around the issue of SLAPPs is instructive for law reformers both in Canada and beyond. In this article, the authors describe the legal and political processes that set the stage for the passage of the 2001 law, and its subsequent repeal. They also provide a detailed analysis and critique of key aspects of the debate surrounding the design of the law, and consider its efficacy in identifying, dismissing and deterring SLAPP lawsuits. They conclude with some observations with respect to the current status of the SLAPP issue in BC.
Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit against pipeline protesters is an affront to free speech and idealism
Pete McMartin, VANCOUVER SUN, NOVEMBER 4, 2014
You would think that, in the name of public relations, somebody at Kinder Morgan might take a clue from the company’s name to work on its image.
It could do with some “kinder.”
But no. Quite the opposite. In its clumsy handling of its proposed pipeline expansion to bring diluted Alberta bitumen to Vancouver, Kinder Morgan — through its pipeline subsidiary Trans Mountain Pipeline — has alienated the city of Burnaby, the city of Vancouver and, well, me, for one. As part of its survey work, it took down trees in a public park.
When the city of Burnaby tried to stop the work in the park, the company turned to the National Energy Board, which — no surprise this — overrode the city’s objections, which, Burnaby insists, the NEB did not have the jurisdictional power to do so. (The city is now appealing that decision.)
When protesters confronted Trans Mountain survey crews within the park, the company filed for an injunction against them and then, piling on, filed suit for damages against four individual protesters and a citizen’s group.
Even for Big Oil, the lawsuit seemed excessive. It’s one thing to protect one’s business interests; it’s altogether another thing to act like a bully. Continue reading
The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
Dear Premier Wynne
I am writing on behalf of the Seriously Speech Committee – Vancouver to urge the enactment into law of Bill 83, Protection of Public Participation Act, 2014.
Frivolous lawsuits initiated by corporations and governments are designed to divert the financial and human resources of community organizations, effectively restricting their ability to freely express themselves and to participate in the political process. Legislation against SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) is a fundamental reform to encourage broader participation on important public issues. Continue reading
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Tagged SFSC Letter, SLAPP
Rules in Favor of Boycotts as Protected ProtestBy Sarah Jaffe, AlterNet, February 27, 2012
Last week, we ran a story from Phan Nguyen at Mondoweiss, about the lawsuit filed against the Olympia Food Co-Op in Olympia, Washington, for joining with the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel and voting to stop selling Israeli-made goods.
Now, a judge has ruled that the co-op is within its rights to boycott the products and that boycotts are protected free speech, tossing out the lawsuit. The Center for Constitutional Rights, who helped represent the co-op, reports: Continue reading
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Posted in Media, Other Campaigns
