The Quebec National Assembly will have a public consultation on Feb. 19 to study potential legislation that will prevent corporations from taking activists to court as a tactic to protect its interests.
In the 1980s, a legal battle took place between two activists in London, England and corporate giant MacDonald’s. But it wasn’t the two activists who were suing the food chain, the food chain was suing the two activists for mounting an information campaign against its food, its business practices and its treatment of employees, among others things. The counterattack in court became famously known as “McLibel.”
It was one of the most prominent cases of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), where lawsuits without real merit are launched by private entities against citizens who publicize views that could damage corporate interests. According to the Quebec Network for Ecological Groups (QNEG), present in last Saturday’s World Social Forum taking place in Montreal, environmental groups have now become a frequent target for SLAPP suits.
“We are really paying attention to SLAPPs, since they are meant to scare citizens who want to protect the environment,” said Maude Prud’homme, communications manager for QNEG.
QNEG first became alarmed over SLAPP suits when a scrap metal dealer, American Iron and Metal (AIM), went to court against the Restoration Committee of the Etchemin River and the Quebec Association against Atmospheric Pollution.
According to Prud’homme, the company had begun to install a giant metal shredder without a construction permit or an environmental impact assessment. Neighbours had seen a suspicious runoff, starting at the site of the AIM facility, being discharged directly in the Etchemin River and they were able to prove this discharge was toxic.
In 2005, after the environmental groups got an injunction to stop the project, AIM sued them for $5 million dollars, arguing they had lost income as a result of their opposition to the project.
AIM knew they could not win: they had no city permit, no environmental impact assessment and they were polluting the water. But a lawsuit would scare their opposition and cost them high legal fees.
“The Environment Minister has very little resources. They can’t enforce existing laws so citizens have to do the government’s job,” said Prud’homme.
The environmental groups counter-sued AIM and, after a long litigation process, last December all parties agreed to stop litigation.
“We want anti-SLAPP legislation to protect environmental groups,” said Prud’homme.
Prud’homme hopes that the consultation on Feb. 19 will address these concerns, when environmental groups will be key players in the process since they have been SLAPP targets.
“The United States already has anti-SLAPP laws in some states,” said Prud’homme.
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