A northwestern Ontario councillor who was reprimanded for social media comments that some believed were about a person who died has been awarded $35,000 in small claims court for libel.
Dryden Coun. Ritch Noel was removed from a city committee in June after he made comments on a post in the private Facebook group Dryden Crime Report.
The post references a person who was allegedly looking into people’s yards and vehicles. A comment on the post reads: “McBurglar is back in town, lock your vehicles.”
Noel, who is a paralegal, replied to the comment, saying: “not anymore bahaha.” Some people had linked that reference to the fact the person in question had died, something Noel denies.
The City of Dryden confirmed the person referenced in the Facebook post was a member of Eagle Lake First Nation, an Ojibway community about 25 kilometres southwest of Dryden that is part of Treaty 3.
On June 19, Dryden Mayor Jack Harrison issued a statement in response to Noel’s comments. At the time this article was published, the statement was still on the city’s website.
The publication implies that the plaintiff is racist and/or demeaning of an Indigenous person or persons.– Deputy judge Kevin G. Cleghorn
“Members of council are held to a high standard and should be a role model for respect and compassion in every engagement, in person or online,” the statement says. “It is very upsetting the recent remarks reflect badly on this council and the city, and we remain steadfast in doing all we can to uphold the commitments we made when this community elected us to office.”
As a result, Noel sought damages against Harrison and the City of Dryden in small claims court, alleging the June 19 statement was defamatory.
Superior Court Deputy Judge Kevin G. Cleghorn issued the order awarding damages following a teleconference hearing on Thursday.
“The publication is/was highly damaging, harmful and/or inflammatory as against the plaintiff [Noel] in his role as a politician in his community and/or as a legal professional,” says the order, which was obtained by CBC News. “The publication implies that the plaintiff is racist and/or demeaning of an Indigenous person or persons.”
Cleghorn determined Harrison and the City of Dryden must pay Noel $35,000 in damages. Noel was also awarded $5,000.
“My damages are far more than the amount the small claims court can award, but I feel that today’s court decision vindicates my position and is a first step in clearing my good name,” Noel said in a media release issued by his lawyer, Robert Sinding.
“Once some citizens misinterpreted my comments, the city found some expedience in jumping on the bandwagon, and threw me under it, with their hurtful words and actions.”
Neither Harrison nor the city filed a defence in this case, according to court documents.
CBC News has reached out to the city and mayor for comment. This story will be updated once a response is received.
Awaiting integrity commissioner’s report
In his media release, Sinding, who’s based in the Township of Emo, said: “Mr. Noel alleged in his statement of claim that the mayor and city maliciously attacked the most important thing to Mr. Noel as a city councillor, paralegal and longstanding well-known contributing Dryden community member: his reputation — and that of his family.
“The statement of claim alleges the press release from the mayor and the city was purely political, completely unnecessary and that the comment had nothing to do with the recently deceased Indigenous individual.
“Rather, the statement of claim alleges Mr. Noel was commenting that there was one less burglar to be wary of because he had just seen someone arrested for an apparent theft, matching the person he thought the others on the Facebook group were referring to — not the deceased woman,” added Sinding’s release.
The statement of claim also alleged Harrison breached the Municipal Act by saying he was seeking a review of Noel’s conduct by the city’s integrity commissioner. Cleghorn did not reference allegations pertaining to the Municipal Act in his order on Thursday.
The integrity commissioner has not yet published a report on Noel’s conduct.
