Exasperated with being denigrated on social networks or during public meetings, municipal elected officials are turning to the courts to defend themselves against the lack of civility of certain citizens, who could be ordered to pay thousands of dollars if they are recognized guilty of making defamatory remarks.
Several municipalities have just received financial assistance from their provincial association to lead these fights, because we believe that this behavior is on the rise and because we want to send a clear message.
“On social media, there are more and more manifestations of hatred towards elected officials, verbal attacks of all kinds, which can go as far as defamation. On anonymous accounts, a lot of things are written,” denounces Martin Damphousse, president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) and mayor of Varennes.
No more anonymity
But citizens who believe they can stay hidden to pour out their gall on social media should think twice: the municipality of Mercier, on the South Shore of Montreal, went to court to obtain the identity of the people who had created anonymous accounts or under a false name. These citizens were then sued for damages for their comments deemed defamatory by municipal officials.
These were political opponents who had created a “Spotted: Mercier” page and a fake Facebook account in the name of my deceased sister, where there were attacks on my reputation and that of municipal employees.
Lise Michaud, mayor of Mercier
The municipality therefore obtained Norwich-type orders from the court in 2020 against Facebook, Videotron and Telus to find out who was hiding behind these accounts.
Faced with a lawsuit, Hughes Ménard and Céline Braun agreed to reach an out-of-court agreement obliging them to pay $32,000 to charities in the region, without any admission on their part. The agreement was approved by the court last January.
This series cost the municipality $56,000, which last week obtained $25,000 in financial assistance from the UMQ Municipal Legal Action Fund.
“It’s expensive, but now everything is back to normal and citizens are showing respect,” emphasizes Lise Michaud.
The price of democracy
The municipality of Oka is also engaged in legal proceedings against a former mayoral candidate, Julie Tremblay-Cloutier, in particular to stop her “publications damaging to the reputation of elected officials”, indicates the press release from the UMQ announcing the payment of financial assistance up to $25,000 for this cause.
This has been going on since the 2017 elections. This person even made a complaint against me to the Quebec Municipal Commission in 2018, and I was cleared. It’s relentlessness.
Pascal Quevillon, mayor of Oka
Oka is demanding $50,000 in damages from Julie Tremblay-Cloutier who, for her part, maintains that the lawsuit only aims to silence her, since she does not agree with the mayor’s ideas.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The mayor of Oka, Pascal Quevillon
“I am accused of intimidation and harassment based on five Facebook posts in five years. Such a pursuit is like using a bazooka to kill a mosquito,” defends M.me Tremblay-Cloutier, who deplores that the mayor is using public funds to carry out a vendetta.
In his publications on Facebook, the ex-candidate speaks of Pascal Quevillon denouncing “the gratuitous nastiness of this unhealthy individual”. She accuses him of being “disconnected”, of wanting to “establish a regime of terror” and of being “Oka’s nuisance”.
The case has not yet been heard by the Superior Court.
Pascal Quevillon does not know how much the municipality’s lawyers’ bill amounts to so far in this case. “But even if it exceeds $25,000, there is no price for having a healthy democracy,” he said.
Stop Fees
Elsewhere, however, the high costs of such fights have pushed back elected officials, as in Léry, a neighboring municipality of Mercier.
A year ago, Léry residents received an anonymous leaflet in the mail containing caricatures and hateful and defamatory remarks against members of the municipal council. “Elected officials felt intimidated and threatened,” reports Mayor Kevin Boyle, adding that he also received threatening anonymous messages at his home.
The municipality also obtained a Norwich type order in Superior Court, to force Canada Post to reveal the identity of the person who sent these leaflets.
Answer: The printer of the document was responsible for sending it, and the printer refused to disclose the name of its client.
The municipal council decided not to go back to court to find out the name of the client, because the costs were too high.
“We decided to stop the process because we were down to $50,000. We were very disappointed not to be able to continue, but these are very energy-intensive events, says Kevin Boyle. You have to have courage to continue doing what you are doing in such circumstances. »
A municipal councilor recently resigned, and the mayor attributes her departure in part to acts of intimidation.
Léry will also receive $25,000 from the UMQ to help pay legal costs.
The UMQ and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs have led campaigns to try to encourage citizens to show more respect towards their local elected officials.
“But it’s not enough,” says Martin Damphousse. It is by using repression that people will calm down. »
Corrigendum:
A previous version of this text mentioned that the municipality of Léry went to court to obtain the identity of people who had created accounts anonymously or under a false name. However, this is the municipality of Mercier. Our apologies.