Vous êtes ici >>Don't SLAPP us around, advocacy groups demand
Don't SLAPP us around, advocacy groups demand
- Protesters want province to ban abusive lawsuits by big corporations
Alain Deneault sold 83 copies of his book Noir Canada in Ontario.
Given the $5-million libel lawsuit that followed, launched by gold mining giant Banro Corp., that works out to more than $60,000 per copy - "the most expensive book ever published."
That was Deneault's ice-breaker before about 100 people gathered on the Montreal courthouse steps yesterday to demand the Quebec government table legislation to stop abusive lawsuits - and fast.
SLAPPs - Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation - are outlawed in 25 U.S. states. A coalition of students, health workers, politicians, writers, teachers, ecologists and nuns wants Quebec to be the first jurisdiction in Canada to do the same.
"We need legislation to protect freedom of speech, and to protect people - physically, financially and psychologically," said André Bélisle, of the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique, the target of one of 20 such lawsuits in Quebec.
"It's a fundamental right to be able to participate in what's happening in our community. If someone decides to build a landfill in front of your house, you have the right to ask questions and ask that the law be respected."
Anti-SLAPP legislation was proposed in June by then Quebec Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis. But it died on the order paper when the provincial election was called.
The protesters urged the new minister, Kathleen Weil, to adopt a law by the end of the legislature session in June.
"This law needs teeth to dissuade corporations from trying to shut people up and make them afraid," said Lucie Lemonde, of the Ligue des droits et libertés.
The law must provide for a fund to help victims stop SLAPP suits, she said, and put them on an equal footing with affluent corporations.
It must also apply to pending lawsuits, she added, which have already had devastating consequences on the targets - and on public debate.
"The problem with SLAPPs is that any company that doesn't like what we say, even if it's backed up by United Nations reports, can sue us to shut us up," Deneault said.
