Another Opinion

Don’t let it bother you that the Charter of Rights says that governments can’t sue for defamation and the town is trying to spin this as never having been a private lawsuit (which clearly doesn’t compute) ! This is scary stuff… and the Advocate and Banner appear to be doing the same thing… turning a blind eye.

LINK: http://www.yorkregion.com/opinion/article/1295187--editorial-dropping-suit-commendable

Feb 09, 2012 - 12:30 PM

EDITORIAL: Dropping suit commendable

You fought city hall and you won. It was a well- deserved victory Now, it’s time to move on.
Council received your message loud and clear that if it makes a decision and doesn’t communicate the reasons why that decision was made until after it is leaked to constituents, they will, most assuredly, have to answer to those footing the bill.

Mayor Rob Grossi and council should be commended for cancelling a lawsuit last Thursday against former leisure services director John McLean.
It was a wise decision to end what could have been an ugly and costly legal battle.
Politicians should be applauded for recognizing they made a collective error in judgment and for appreciating this was clearly an inappropriate use of public funds.
When The Advocate broke the news Jan. 19 that your tax dollars would pay for the town’s legal action against Mr. McLean over letters to the editor he wrote last September, you were angry.
You were angry because you weren’t told about it.
You were angry because you didn’t feel a corporation should sue someone for taking to task its method — right or wrong — of doing business.
But, most of all, you were angry because you didn’t want your hard-earned tax dollars being used to quash a citizen’s right to criticize the municipality.
Within hours of Advocate articles and on social media sites, including yorkregion.com, more than 1,000 comments came flooding in from Georgina residents, business owners and from people across York Region.
Collectively, some of you expressed harsh opinions when you learned the municipality, led by Mayor Grossi as head of the corporation, would sue a citizen for comments he made about the town’s business conduct.
Whether or not Mr. McLean’s letters published in area newspapers were fair comment or libellous seemed to be of little concern to most of you. And we’re not ruling on that.
That decision would have been left to the courts to decide.
It is not the place of a newspaper to try a legal case but to, instead, inform its readers and website users what any such legal action could mean to them and why.
But now that the suit has been cancelled, along with the bylaw to indemnify Mayor Grossi as the corporation’s head of council (this, we are told, is expected to be ratified in the next several weeks), it’s time to move on.
Public officials certainly swallowed a bitter pill.
Clearly, in retrospect, the town felt this particular case wasn’t strong enough or worth playing out in a lengthy court battle.
And while public officials are expected to shoulder a fair amount of public criticism, there should also be recourse to take legal action — with financial backing of the corporation — when citizens make libelous, slanderous or hateful comments.
That’s why it’s an important reminder that we need to take a civilized approach to issues and hold legitimate, thoughtful and productive debates on matters about which we don’t agree or ones that become emotionally charged and heated.
Politicians should be entitled to the same laws as citizens, when and if warranted.
In this case, your actions were the sole reason town council changed its mind about pursuing a lawsuit.
You fought city hall and you won. It was a well- deserved victory Now, it’s time to move on.
Council received your message loud and clear that if it makes a decision and doesn’t communicate the reasons why that decision was made until after it is leaked to constituents, they will, most assuredly, have to answer to those footing the bill