Three former Lantzville councillors accused of damaging the reputation of three local politicians have responded to the accusations, calling them meritless.
Ex-councillors Jennifer Millbank, Graham Savage and Dave Scott submitted their legal response to a civil lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court by Lantzville Mayor Colin Haime and current councillors Denise Haime and John Coulson accusing them of libel.
The suit accuses Millbank, Savage and Scott of engaging in a nearly six-month public campaign to discredit them. It cites various social media posts and comments, publicly released e-mails, letters and other documents made by the former councillors between October 2014 and March 2015 contained language that was false, malicious and defamatory towards Colin and Denise Haime and Coulson.
According to court documents obtained by the News Bulletin, the former councillors’ legal response calls the civil claim against them “without merit” and questions the timing of the suit, pointing out that the events took place years ago. It also states that the comments that led to the suit were on the matter of public interest, fair comment and are protected by qualified privilege.
In 2015, Millbank, Savage and Scott resigned from Lantzville council nearly six months after they were elected, due to what they felt was internal conflict and dysfunction among councillors and staff.
One of the claims made by the plaintiffs was that Millbank circulated an e-mail known as the March memorandum in April 2015 and was not authorized to do so, and the e-mail contained language that was false, malicious and defamatory toward them.
However, according to recent court documents, the March memorandum was authored in March 2015 by five senior non-unionized district staffers, not members of council, and contained language that raised concerns about the working conditions in Lantzville. The defendants argue that Millbank’s e-mail and the March memorandum were sent on the “occasion” of qualified privilege because she and the recipients of the e-mail were citizens of Lantzville and had a legitimate interest in the contents of the e-mail.
The response also says Millbank’s social media posts are protected under qualified privilege and suggests the plaintiffs themselves are the ones who have engaged in “direct or indirect” threats of legal action against district staff and other councillors, citing a a June 2013 e-mail Millbank received from from Denise Haime that threatened her with legal action. They also accuse Colin Haime of failing to control council meetings and properly prevent denigrating statements and behaviour from occurring or protecting district staff from insulting and humiliating remarks.
The defendants are seeking to have the case thrown out. None of the accusations have been proven in court.
nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com