A Commentary by Doug Draper
Hey folks, check out a blog site called the Crystal Beach Strand!
One of a number of Fort Erie town hall meetings so packed with people concerned about the Bay Beach condo plan that they spilled out into the lobby. Photo by Doug Draper
It must be one smoken’ watchdog site on municipal affairs if both it and Google, Inc., which carries it, and two anonymous commenters are now named in a legal suit filed by the municipality’s Economic and Development and Tourism Corporation. And oh, by the way, you can check out the site for yourself at www.crystalbeachstrand.com.
Then again, don’t go checking out that site until you finish reading the rest of this.
There is an old rule of human nature that is probably as true now as it was going back to the advent of the first printing presses centuries ago. What that rule says is this – if you want to give your opponents more publicity than they have possibly ever hoped for before, then just try to sue them or ban whatever they are saying.
Don’t the makers and shakers in Fort Erie, Ontario who filed this legal action know that? And if not, what else don’t they know?
Apparently they have some learning to do in this area because sometime earlier this month, a legal suit was reportedly filed with the province’s Superior Court of Justice on behalf of the Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corporation (EDTC) and its director Jim Thibert against the Crystal Beach Strand, its producer and Fort Erie resident Sharon Bowers, and against Google Inc., and two anonymous people who apparently made comments on the site that the parties to the suit believe to be defamatory.
The site in question was founded about nine years ago and describes itself as “an entirely self-funded news source for Fort Erie, especially Crystal Beach, (that) attempt(s) to bring information about the town that is not covered in other media.” Over the past year or so, it has served as a citizens’ platform against a controversial plan by the town to partner with a private developer to build a 13-storey condominium in front of Bay Beach – one of the open, publicly owned beaches along the Lake Erie shoreline in Niagara.
The Bay Beach project and a proposal to locate a NASCAR speedway on rural lands in Fort Erie have triggered heated arguments between citizens and members of the town’s council and between groups of citizens for and against they plans. Suffice to say, they have also drawn some passionate commentary, including commentary that sometimes strays beyond the bounds of civil discourse. This appears to be the case on both sides, including some of the Facebooks created by supporters of these projects that talk about
But that has always been par for the course in Fort Erie and in many other municipalities, whether it be the aborted plans several years ago to build a gondola-type, amusement park ride down into the gorge next to the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls or the plans to tear down some buildings in a designated heritage district in the Port Dalhousie community of St. Catharines, Ontario and build a high-rise condo complex there.
The difference in Fort Erie is that instead of just shaking off the spears and arrows, the town’s economic development agency has decided to file a suit against one little blog site that most of us, including this writer, hardly took the time to visit until word of this suit went public.
What hasn’t gone public yet is who is paying for this legal suit – will it be the taxpayers of Fort Erie against one or more of their own citizens – or will it be private businesses or someone else? That is a question the citizens of Fort Erie should surely demand an answer to from their council.
Finally, and this may be something all of us, regardless of which municipality we live in, should care about, if citizens are going to be sued for making allegedly defamatory comments on a blog site, where will the line be drawn. Could they be sued for making those comments at a community rally or as part of a delegation appearing before council next? Where are the town’s powers-that-be going with this?
Niagara At Large placed a call to Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin to ask him a few questions about this, both as the leader of council and as a member of the Economic Development and Tourism Corporation, but has not heard back from him yet.
Those questions include the following; ‘Who is paying for this legal action and how much will it potentially cost?” They also include asking him how going after a citizen blogger in the community will help bring a municipality that has been so divided over the Bay Beach development plan and NASCAR idea any closer together?
If and when Martin gets back to us, we’ll be happy to post his responses.
Thibert was recently quoted in the Metroland weekly paper Niagara At Large saying that at least some of the “rationale” for this action comes from the possibility that businesses “look on the web” before they make an investment, the inference being that Bowers’ little online site might chase away developers.
Far be it from this journalist to differ with anyone apparently so wise about development opportunities as Jim Thibert, I would suggest that if someone wants to come into a municipality and make an investment in a business or in residences that are compatible with the character of the surrounding neighbourhood, it is unlikely that bloggers like Bowers would strike the kind of chord she and others have over the Bay Beach condo plan.
As for this stale old line some people from Thibert’s corner are using that if the town turns down this condo plan or the NASCAR speedway, for that matter, it is sending out a signal that Fort Erie ‘is not open for growth’, one might wish to point out that there are different kinds of growth. There is growth that is compatible and sustainable, and there is growth that is not. Can’t a community make a choice between the two without being branded as anti-growth if it turns down the kind that a critical mass of the community’s residents do not view as the smarter kind?
Just asking a couple of questions of the town leaders. Hope that’s still okay?
(Share your comments on this issue and visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater Niagara region and beyond.)
Niagara At Large 
These turkeys have even named Google in their lawsuit! I am rolling on the floor, laughing my …well, you get the picture.
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I just googled town of Fort Erie to test the rationale behind this lawsuit. Low and behold no mention of her or her site comes up until page 11 and that I can only guess is because it has moved up due to all of the attention garnered from this lawsuit.
It is my humble opinion that this very lawsuit will bring about the damage to Fort Erie by its own accord, that they are so concerned about and claim this is about.
If that is the true intent of this suit, might I suggest they start looking into the negativity that has been spread all over facebook which is much more incidious in the fact that it reaches a far larger audience. Or, I don’t know, sue the internet. That is how ridiculous I feel this lawsuit is.
Can’t people have an opinion that differs from others? Sharon Bowers and the posters on her blog included? Geez, I’m almost afraid to post this…will I be sued?
It is time for this community to move beyond all of this and I look to my town leaders to start reminding people that what is happening right now is what is called democracy, and together we will all work out what is best for the town as a whole, whatever that may be. We are friends and neighbours and we need to remember that. Hey, I’ll admit it, I got caught up in a lot of the negativity and hysteria for a while also, but, I am making a concerted effort to let it go and move on…and I believe we all should.
My husband and I have decided to do our part to dispel some of the negativity by starting a facebook page called “My Fort Erie”. In the past two days we have gained over 500 friends and there have been many positive discussions about the past, the present and other fun happenings around town. Please take a second to check it out. It is our small way of shedding a positive light on our beloved home town.
Thanks
Linda Anderson
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Blog-power at work.
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SLAPP suit time in the Fort, that is a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. The have been several of these in Ontario (I’ll dig up the references and post) where municipalities have filed against its citizenry and lost. The City and its affiliates may well be skating on thin ice here.
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It seems to me that this may be a way to distract the public from the real issues. I suspect that the EDTC (and former Fort Erie Council) have made some huge promises to the big boys and are now shaking in their boots. Ms. Bowers certainly speaks her mind, but I have read nothing so derogatory as can be seen on the “Counterblog” crystalbeachstrandedblogspot.com or the Facebook page of a local Fort Erie restaurant. I believe this lawsuit is an attempt to silence the public. It won’t work. This is still a democracy, whether the EDTC thinks so or not.
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Matthew 7:24-27 (New International Version, ©2011)
The Wise and Foolish Builders:
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
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The Fort Erie Development and Tourism Agency CEO is using taxpayers money to pursue a personal vendetta against a resident? that is breach of trust and breach of fiduciary trust , Jim Thibert should resign his post ASAP. This man has treated my Councillor Anne Marie Noyes with disrespect by inviting everybody on Council to the seasons opening except her, this man who is running the Fort Erie Racetrack. has the personality of a porcupine, and is paid by our Town, this public servant has out lived his welcome.
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This would be laughable if it wasn’t also deplorable conduct, humiliating to the residents of Fort Erie, and a flagrant misuse of taxpayers’ money. Who does Mr. Thibert think he is?? And shame on Mayor Martin for allowing this disgraceful action to move forward.
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Jim Thibert is the guy who was given $2 million dollars of tourism money and lost it, he his agency get’s $750 thousand dollars of taxpayers money for nearly a decade and never produced anything tangible for our Town of Community. using our tax money for personal benefit is cause for dismissal he should tender his resignation as soon as possble, it is called breach of trust people go to jail for that behaviour, Andre Marin should investigate this man, he is the Provincial Ombudsman.
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http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/03/22/graeme-hamilton-quebec-court-rejects-bid-to-restrain-blogger/
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This lawsuit is just anothger reason that the EDTC’s should be reconfigured into a regional group. The cost for this ridiculous suit is going to be miniscule compared to the negative press for the Town of Fort Erie.
It is a real shame.
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Do you know what she wrote?
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Just inquiring. What did Sharon Bowers write?
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I follow the antics of Jim Thibert for years, and what I have seen at council his bevavior leaves a lot to be desired , several years ago at a meeting of un -paid volunteers for the Friendship Festival he talked down to the group as if they were employees of his, these people were volunteers from Black Creek where the Festival got it’s start, his insults nearly caused the group to quit enmass, some did, Thibert has an attitude problem and if I was present he would have a sore nose, he uses profanity the (F BOMB) with Provincial officers in St.Catharines while dicussing the Fort Erie Racetrack funding. everything about him on the blogosphere is pretty accurate as far as can tell. He should have been booted ouy of that plum job years ago.
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As the author of this piece and publisher of Niagara At Large, I have been asked by a few people what Sharon Bowers is producing on her blog, the Crystal Beach Strand, to draw a lawsuit from the Town of Fort Erie. My reponse to those asking is to go to the blogsite itself, which I gave the link for in the article – http://www.crystalbeachstrand.com – and judge for yourself. Some of the local mainstream papers, including the Fort Erie Post or Niagara This Week as it is known in some other parts of the region, published a line or two that the town and its economic development office apparently found particularly offensive, and I am not about to repeat those lines on this site.
If you are wondering why, any well-qualified libel lawyer can tell you that if you repeat the ‘alleged libel’ or defamatory comments, you are just as libel to be named in the legal suit, even if that suit is frivolous.
In Canada, unfortunately, even a frivolous legal action that is eventually thrown out of court can end up costing the party that was sued large amounts of money just to show that they had a right to make those comments after all. In other words, even when you win, you lose.
So once again, for those asking about the Crystal Beach Strand website and what is on it, take a few extra moments to visit the site and judge for yourself. Should the town and its economic development office being taking up time and spending some of your taxdollars on an action against what is, after all, a small citizen-based blogsite, or should it just shrug it off, take a higher road, and focus on the more important issues and challenges that face the community?
Doug Draper, Niagara At Large.
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Doug, the comments currently on her blog are not the comments that the EDTC has issue with. This is such an old story. The papers were filed last summer. Rich Hutton at Niagara This Week picked up on it two weeks ago. Sharon Bowers alleged that the EDTC, its board members and employees had engaged in criminal activities related to the disposition of public money and that Thibert should be fired for corrupt practices.
Sharon Bowers engaged in this sort of dialog not only about the EDTC but politicians, town staff and private citizens since at least July 2007. She had been asked on a number of occasions in writing and in person to curtail her defamation. If she wants to call herself a “citizen journalist” — and she has — she must bear the responsibility for what she writes and publishes, the same way you and I must. She is using the fact that it takes expensive civil litigation to protect herself.
If you don’t like Thibert and you think that he ought not to be in that position with the EDTC, that’s one thing. To accuse him of criminal offences is quite another.
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I wouldn’t know Thibert if I fell over him but I’ve never heard a good thing (especially from Race Track people). I normally distance myself from gossip about things that I don’t know anything about but I can’t wrap my head around the snubbing of Anne Marie Noyes. I’m retired now but when I was working I was responsible for 10 to 20 people under me. I didn’t always like everybody, but when I bought coffees or pizza or whatever everybody was treated the same.
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The EDTC tax paid budget of $600.000 a year , a re-evaluation of the role of the EDTC requested by Council and now a frivolous lawsuit being issued may be the turning point where Council questions the redundancy of this agency.
There is a great deal of overlapping with Regional offices,,, Chambers of Commerce , Economic Development offices and Tourism Bureaus.
Can we financially continue to support parochialism or is it time to move with the new Chairman to One Niagara. Our suffering pocketbooks seem to indicate the time is right for a full review.
I still am waiting for someone to indicate the number of jobs we have bought for the $600,000 year after year .
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Sue, One-Big-Niagara is an absolute guarantee that Niagara South will be shanghaied even worse than now.
And if you think there are places where $600k are spent loosely, imagine how much easier it will be to hide when Fort Erie gets only 2 or 3 Regional Councillors among 30-40, mostly from Niagara North.
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The Southern Tier now is hopelessly out-voted with one Regional Councillor from each of Fort Erie and Port Colborne. If Mayor Doug Martins Reduction of Regional Council proposal is adopted we will be left without even that one . As my Pops said we are sucking the hind tit of the cow.
Perhaps it is time to stop trying to be all things to all people and concentrate our resources and our vision on making our community environment the best it can be,
The negative publicity that this frivoulous lawsuit will bring to Fort Erie is just one more excuse why the performance and outcomes of the EDTC should be examined to determine how can the role be more efficient and produce better results.
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I’m new at this becoming politically aware so please forgive me for bringing up old news. I was told that Mayor Martin was asked off the Police Board and the Niagara Parks Commission. Was he replaced? Does Fort Erie have a voice in these two areas?
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Welcome to the political arena. Mayor Martin ran again for a position on the Police Board as a Regional Representative but lost and was replaced by Mayor Badaway Port Colborne.
The Parks Commissioners are Govt appointed except for the Municipal reps. Chan ,the Tourism Minister cleaned house and “fired” them all asking for new reps….including the municipal reps.
Mayor Martin declined the Ministers invitation to resign and was reappointed by Municipal Council under a ByLaw that states the FE rep is to be the Mayor.
Brief overview but hope it helps.
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Thankyou Sue and an apology to all for getting off the main theme. I know good people working hard (Dominion Repertory Players) in conjunction with the new theatre area at the old fort and the Parks Commission for the 1812 activities. Hate to see anything mess that up.
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If the EDTC can justify going after Sharon Bowers (who I never heard of before this) then maybe the Town should file a law suit against the ‘Citizens of Fort Erie For a Positive Future’ for basically calling them embarrassing crooks in the hate pamphlet they sent out last week. Apparently 3000 of these things were sent out. I wonder if they have brown shirt uniforms in their closets.
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Good ole boy **misogynists**…….ARE ALL THE SAME:
“SLANDER charges filed against alleged Libyan rape victim”
http://themes.thestar.com/article/0ftyeaJcfkeWF
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When we can easily arrest or sue a journalist or anyone for what he writes … it is dangerous for everyone.”
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