Municipal councillors sue radio station
- Details
- Published on Friday, July 15, 2016
Defamation by broadcaster due to ‘malice’ alleged
By Carol Sanders
Winnipeg Free Press
A rural Manitoba radio station and the on-air personality who runs it are being sued for defamation by members of the local municipal council for accusing them of unethical and illegal activity.
The lawsuit filed in a Winnipeg court says the actions of Swan River’s CJSB 104.5 FM and its general manager Bill Gade go beyond political commentary and have specifically targeted individual council members and municipal employees.
The court action claims a smear campaign by the station that calls itself "the Voice of the Valley" has been going on since 2013 but the defamation was motivated by "malice" following Gade’s failure to win a seat on the Municipality of Swan Valley West council in a 2015 byelection.
It says Gade sent a letter to the minister of justice at the time, James Allum, accusing his opponent David Minish of violating election expense rules, using his NDP political connections to avoid punishment for illegal activities and conspiring with the municipality’s economic development officer to defame and defeat Gade on social media.
In March 2015, the Free Press reported that RCMP were investigating after a fake Facebook account was created that purported to be Gade’s. The account’s profile picture showed two horses in sexually explicit positions. In an interview at the time, Gade said he was worried the fake account could cost him the election. RCMP said Thursday the matter is still under investigation so they could not comment.
The statement of claim filed recently by the municipal councillors says the radio station owned by Stillwater Broadcasting Ltd. had T-shirts made and distributed to the public with phrases such as "Bullying Rate Payers," "Hiring Best Friends" and "Breaking the Law" on them.
On air, the radio station went after the municipal council members and administrators, the lawsuit says. It broadcast statements alleging municipal staff were mistreated and accused councillors of abusing their power to hire friends, the statement of claim alleges. It was part of a calculated effort to embarrass the municipal council, instil "distrust and hatred for the plaintiffs in the community," cause them financial harm and have them removed or fired from their positions and jobs in the community, it said.
In January, Gade told listeners to drive to Benito to see Reeve Verne Scouten. "Make his day a living hell until he gets the scope of the problem and gets the idea he has to fix it."
Later that month he announced on air he was "taking apart Swan Valley West council brick by brick to see what secrets they may be hiding," the court filing says. "May God have mercy on their souls and give their lawyer the wisdom to recommend against a full-out war with the radio station."
The statement of claim they filed in response says the actions of Gade and the radio station caused them "mental suffering" and "go beyond bounds of decency." Without specifying a dollar amount, they say such "intolerable behaviour" is deserving of "substantial exemplary and punitive damages."
No statement of defence has yet been filed.
This story was originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press. Reprinted with permission.
