Mr. Jacques Dupuis
Quebec Justice Minister
ministre@justice.gouv.qc.ca
Fax: 418-646-0027 (Québec) or 514 873-7174 (Montréal)
Re: Urgency for anti SLAPP legislation
Dear Minister Dupuis:
It is very satisfying to see the combined will of the political parties represented in the Quebec National Assembly to act on the question of strategic lawsuits against public participation also known as SLAPPs and to take note of your commitment to table a bill to this effect before the end the current session of parliament. Please be assured of our support for legislative action that hopefully will be strong, effective, and unwavering.
The SLAPP phenomenon is growing in Quebec and it represents a very real threat to the participation of citizens and groups in public debate. SLAPPs also have the effect of steering justice away from its ultimate purpose. SLAPPs are direct threats against the incentive to mobilize the population; they discourage public expression of social and political opinion, undermine the quality of public debate, and represent en infringement on the public's right to information.
Since current Quebec law does not provide adequate means to respond to abusive lawsuits, legislative action is required to discourage such practices. Legislation should include the following objectives: protection of the right to participate in public debate, deterrence of those who SLAPP initiators, possibility to throw out abusive lawsuits quickly, equity in the judicial process.
To achieve these objectives, legislation that includes the following elements is necessary:
1 Recognition of the right to public participation;
2 Establishment of an emergency procedure to throw out SLAPPs;
3 Reversal of the burden of proof in favour of SLAPP victims;
4 Financial support for victims of SLAPPs, reimbursement of extrajudicial costs and disbursements to the party whose freedom of speech has been curtailed, and award of exemplary damages;
5 Possibility to cancel gag provisions in out-of-court settlements.
Thank you in advance for taking quick legislative action to protect freedom of speech.
Yours truly,
We encourage you to send this letter to the following people and groups:
- Claude L'Écuyer, ADQ critic (claude.lecuyer-sahy@assnat.qc.ca),
- Stéphane Bédard, PQ critic (sbedard@assnat.qc.ca),
- Member of the National Assembly in your riding
- Écosociété (info@ecosociete.org)
- Ligue des droits et libertés (communication@liguedesdroits.ca) et
- AQLPA (info@aqlpa.com).
This letter will be sent in French to the Minister of Justice.
