-by Zoe Blunt Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network
Last week, the BC Supreme Court upheld our right to criticize the government. But Langford officials apparently didn’t get the memo.
In February and March, newspapers and TV cameras showed Langford’s mayor berating local residents at a public hearing for the South Skirt Mountain mega-development. Now a city planner who threatened legal action against a critic of the same development refuses to apologize.
A letter from Langford planner Matthew Baldwin to Dr. Karen Wonders, a former BC resident now teaching at Gottingen University in Germany, questioned her intelligence, insulted three other people (also critics of Skirt Mountain development), and implied that the city should retaliate against Ms. Wonders for expressing her opinion. Baldwin copied the letter to the director of Dr. Wonder’s institute and the president of the university.
I emailed Baldwin on Friday, April 3, to advise him:
“You may be aware that the BC Civil Liberties Association last week sought and received a declaration from BC Supreme Court upholding the Charter right to freedom of speech in a case where a municipality threatened critics with legal action. According to the judge, a city ‘lacks any legal basis or right to bring civil proceedings for defamation of its governing reputation, or bring other proceedings of similar purpose or effect, or to threaten to do so.’ You should also be aware that your misconduct has cast a pall over Langford’s efforts to portray itself as fair and democratic.”
The email continues: “As a public employee, you are obligated to uphold standards of fairness, especially in regard to public input on land-use decisions… I strongly suggest you take your own advice and consult with Langford’s legal council to determine how you will remedy the damage you have caused to Ms. Wonders, myself, and the integrity of the democratic process.”
Baldwin refused the suggestion, replying: “I do not feel that it is appropriate for me to discuss this matter with you, nor do I feel that I am under any obligation to provide you with any further explanation.”
In related news, an amusing new West Shore gossip blog launched today, promising satire, mockery, and a fresh “public opinion poll” every week. WTF Langford? asks readers “How corrupt is Langford City Council?” and features a photo of Jabba the Hutt labeled “City Planner Matthew Baldwin.”
Filed under: Save Spaet Mountain, anarchy, forests
