Taxpayer Funded Organization Sues Private Citizens 
Canada (Press Release) December 6, 2007 --
Thursday, December 06, 2007
For Immediate Distribution
SELF-REPRESENTED DEFENDANT DENIED RIGHT TO FULL DISCLOSURE
WINNIPEG - A Co-Defendant in the Canadian taxpayer funded Manitoba Metis Federation's defamation lawsuit against www.CyberSmokeSignals.com claimed today he is being denied his basic right to full disclosure.
"The information I have requested will be critical at trial for mounting a proper defence especially since the MMF has no spending limits or public accountability for election campaigns," stated Clare Pieuk.
"It's beyond ludicrous for Counselor Murray Norman Trachtenberg to reply,
'I acknowledge receipt of your email transmitted on September 2, 2007 requesting copies of expense claims and evidence of payments for each claim for the period March 27, 2003 to October 20, 2004.
The documentation you have requested is irrelevant to the matters raised in the pleadings. They will not be produced.'
"Hopefully, Mr. Trachtenberg will react more favourably to stop this blatant abuse of process when he receives additional disclosure requests" remarked Mr. Pieuk.
This latest dispute in a long running case (early 2004) centres around access to detailed travel and expense documents for the Plaintiffs which include the publicly funded Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. its President, David N. Chartrand, and 20 of 23 Provincial Board of Directors - one refused to become a litigant while the others subsequently withdrew.
During September, 2003 Winnipeg Metis Legal Aid attorney Lionel R. R. Chartrand publicly agreed to serve (pro bono) as CyberSmokeSignals' General Legal Counsel while contributing articles about Aboriginal gathering rights.
In January, 2004 he: authored a petition critical of MMF election spending practices; approved its posting verbatim on the internet; and at no time requested, in writing or otherwise, it be revised or removed from the site. Mr. Lionel Chartrand has yet to be named a Co-Defendant which will raise several, serious issues at trial.
"Given the circumstances, what is truly amazing is how much public money the Federation has spent to date on legal fees for such a frivolous, vexatious and malicious lawsuit. It has to be well in excess of $100,000!" said Pieuk. "For what? Surely our tax dollars could be much better spent improving badly needed social programs for the province's Metis citizens" he continued.
Recently, both Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and retired Quebec Superior Court Justice John Gomery publicly expressed their concern regarding the rapidly escalating cost of litigation resulting in greater numbers of self-represented litigants showing up in the system.
"This sure has been an education in how the judiciary can be manipulated and misused in an attempt to threaten, intimidate and bully non-represented laypersons especially by a taxpayer funded organization with virtually unlimited resources ($25 million annual budget). However, in spite of it I plan to study defamation law when I retire shortly" he noted while preparing another posting for his site www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com.
Clare L. Pieuk is a non Aboriginal living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
For more information:
www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com
pieuk@shaw.ca
Telephone: (204) 237-7063
For Immediate Distribution
SELF-REPRESENTED DEFENDANT DENIED RIGHT TO FULL DISCLOSURE
WINNIPEG - A Co-Defendant in the Canadian taxpayer funded Manitoba Metis Federation's defamation lawsuit against www.CyberSmokeSignals.com claimed today he is being denied his basic right to full disclosure.
"The information I have requested will be critical at trial for mounting a proper defence especially since the MMF has no spending limits or public accountability for election campaigns," stated Clare Pieuk.
"It's beyond ludicrous for Counselor Murray Norman Trachtenberg to reply,
'I acknowledge receipt of your email transmitted on September 2, 2007 requesting copies of expense claims and evidence of payments for each claim for the period March 27, 2003 to October 20, 2004.
The documentation you have requested is irrelevant to the matters raised in the pleadings. They will not be produced.'
"Hopefully, Mr. Trachtenberg will react more favourably to stop this blatant abuse of process when he receives additional disclosure requests" remarked Mr. Pieuk.
This latest dispute in a long running case (early 2004) centres around access to detailed travel and expense documents for the Plaintiffs which include the publicly funded Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. its President, David N. Chartrand, and 20 of 23 Provincial Board of Directors - one refused to become a litigant while the others subsequently withdrew.
During September, 2003 Winnipeg Metis Legal Aid attorney Lionel R. R. Chartrand publicly agreed to serve (pro bono) as CyberSmokeSignals' General Legal Counsel while contributing articles about Aboriginal gathering rights.
In January, 2004 he: authored a petition critical of MMF election spending practices; approved its posting verbatim on the internet; and at no time requested, in writing or otherwise, it be revised or removed from the site. Mr. Lionel Chartrand has yet to be named a Co-Defendant which will raise several, serious issues at trial.
"Given the circumstances, what is truly amazing is how much public money the Federation has spent to date on legal fees for such a frivolous, vexatious and malicious lawsuit. It has to be well in excess of $100,000!" said Pieuk. "For what? Surely our tax dollars could be much better spent improving badly needed social programs for the province's Metis citizens" he continued.
Recently, both Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and retired Quebec Superior Court Justice John Gomery publicly expressed their concern regarding the rapidly escalating cost of litigation resulting in greater numbers of self-represented litigants showing up in the system.
"This sure has been an education in how the judiciary can be manipulated and misused in an attempt to threaten, intimidate and bully non-represented laypersons especially by a taxpayer funded organization with virtually unlimited resources ($25 million annual budget). However, in spite of it I plan to study defamation law when I retire shortly" he noted while preparing another posting for his site www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com.
Clare L. Pieuk is a non Aboriginal living in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
For more information:
www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com
pieuk@shaw.ca
Telephone: (204) 237-7063
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