'People don't like to be bullied': Group urges P.E.I. to enact anti-SLAPP law

An environmental protection group continues to push the P.E.I. government to adopt legislation that would stop some lawsuits from going forward. 

They're seeking an anti-SLAPP law, with the acronym standing for "strategic lawsuit against public participation," which would halt lawsuits designed to silence people from speaking out on matters of public interest.

Similar measures have already been introduced in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. 

Gary Schneider, co-chair of the Environmental Coalition of P.E.I., said such a law would be easy to implement in this province. 

"The reason that we're so excited about this is because we do have this template — and not just from Ontario, but we know that B.C. took that template, used it for their own and did it very quickly," Schneider told MLAs during a legislative standing committee meeting Wednesday. 

"It's something that I think we can do if we want to do it. If we don't want to do it, that's a different story." 

Under B.C.'s anti-SLAPP legislation, a defendant can ask the court for early dismissal of a lawsuit if there is reason to believe it was launched to harm the defendant's ability to speak freely on a matter of public interest.

Judges can toss out a lawsuit if they believe the public interest in protecting the defendant's right to freedom of expression outweighs any harm the plaintiff would suffer as a result of the defendant speaking out.

In some cases, defendants can recover 100 per cent of their court costs if a suit is dismissed for such a reason. 

Group is subject of lawsuit

ECO P.E.I. is lobbying for the law after a legal battle between the group and a local developer. 

Tim Banks sued the coalition and three other defendants over what his court filings describe as a conspiracy to "impede and confound" his efforts to develop or sell land he owns in the middle of a P.E.I. National Park site at Greenwich.

ECO P.E.I. filed an appeal with the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) in August 2023, questioning the province's decision to grant Banks a development permit to build on the land.

Banks' statement of claim alleges the defendants "conspired with each other to slander Mr. Banks' title to the subject properties and took direct action to actively impede and confound Mr. Banks' efforts to develop and/or sell the subject properties."

In its statement of defence, the coalition denies the allegations, calling the developer's claim "an abuse of process, and an improper use of civil litigation to intimidate and harass a non-profit public interest organization."

The coalition said Wednesday that the suit is an example of a time when anti-SLAPP legislation could be considered.

"People don't like to be bullied. And somehow we've said, 'If you've got access to lots of money and lots of lawyers, you can bully people,'" Schneider said. 

Banks told CBC News in an email that he preferred not to comment on the coalition's recommendation to government, or anti-SLAPP legislation in general. 

"I'm busy spending my energy trying to develop our community," he wrote. 

'It's really quite beautiful'

Politicians at Wednesday's committee meeting were largely supportive of ECO P.E.I.'s recommendation, with Green MLAs Matt MacFarlane and Peter Bevan-Baker saying they struggled to imagine any counter-argument to anti-SLAPP laws. 

Jacinta Gallant, a lawyer and mediator with Waterstone Law Group who appeared alongside the ECO P.E.I. members, said the legislation can improve the justice system. 

"It enhances access to justice for defendants, and it doesn't limit access to justice for the plaintiffs — if they've got a good case, it's not going to be dismissed," Gallant said. "It's really quite beautiful, when you think about it."