By Pepper Parr
May 16, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There were 46 comments in the newspaper on a web site article we published when we said we were ceasing publication. Not one negative comment amongst them.
In hindsight we should have said we were suspending publication.
I met with a number of people after the announcement and was asked by several if there was not some way I could continue. At the city council meeting of April 28th Councillor Meed Ward announced that we have “for a variety of reasons” stopped publishing, she didn’t elaborate. You are entitled to know what those reasons were.
On May 30th, I will have hip replacement done at St. Joseph Hospital in Hamilton. I have a great surgeon at a hospital where the service and attitude is superb.
From the point at which it became evident a hip replacement was necessary to the date the surgery is to be done was less than 90 days – which I felt was satisfactory. That doesn’t mean there is no pain. Hurts likes Hades and I’ve still not gotten the hang of the cane my wife got for me.
Having a disabled card for my car is a god-send. I can park right outside city hall and most buildings that I have to get to – and I don’t have to pay for the parking. Sweet!
I felt I was unable to do the job I had set out to do. Add to that the libel notices that were served on us by the Air Park Inc., and I wondered if I could keep the newspaper on a web site going and fight the Air Park Inc. action.
My wife found the stress of the legal action difficult to handle. She is the reason I came to this city and I reluctantly decided to cease publishing, at least until the hip surgery was complete and I was able to get around. Everyone tells me I will be back on my fee in no time once the surgery is done – and I certainly hope they are right.
With the announcement of the decision to cease publishing was posted something astonishing happened. There were phone calls. A member of council called to ensure that it was not a delayed April fool’s joke.
There were emails – more than 65 to me personally.
There were comments from readers; more than 46. Not one negative amongst them.
The announcement was made on the Sunday and traffic for the Monday was the largest in our three year history.
A number of people wanted to meet with me. All wanted to know how they could help. The clincher was the delegation that called at the house. Three people, all from the same downtown part of the city, rang the doorbell and asked what it would take for me to resume publishing. I said I would re-think my position.
The Gazette has resumed publishing. I am not going to be able to cover as much as I did in the past until the surgery is done and the recovery is complete.
As for the Air Park Inc., we became aware that a reader who had made a comment on the web site had been served with a libel notice and we were served with a second notice. Then third.
We were fortunate enough to be able to get legal opinions from two exceptionally prominent lawyers who said three things. (1) Peter Wells, the lawyer acting for the Air Park Inc., is not a libel lawyer; he doesn’t know that field of law. (2) You did not libel the Air Park Inc., and you should fight this battle. (3) The owner of the Air Park is a bully.
We have not been sued as yet and have not hired the lawyer that will defend us should we be sued. The lawyer we intend to use is one of the best there is in the field. He will not be cheap – the vacation this summer will be very short and inexpensive.
We have a serious problem when a citizen, running for public office, responds to an article with an opinion and is then chased because someone thinks they have been libeled. That is called libel chill – and it can be effective.
The Air Park Inc., situation cuts to the very core of citizen administration. Does the city have the right to enact bylaws and does the Air Park have the right to flaunt those bylaws claiming they do not apply to them? They certainly thought so. But Justice Murray declared they are wrong and that they must adhere to the bylaw – and pay a large portion of the city’s legal costs as well.
The Air Park, as is their right, chose to appeal Justice Murray’s decision. That appeal is going to be heard before a three member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeals at Osgoode Hall June 11th. The city should have an answer a few weeks after the appeal hearing.
Legal counsel for the Air Park has provided us with the working of the apology they required us to publish. We have set that apology out for readers in a separate article.
The Burlington Gazette will not be publishing an apology. The Air Park can sue if they wish and we will defend our actions in a court of law. It is our belief that the Air Park Inc. wants to expunge any record of what they have done and they have served us with a notice that if we do not remove the material we published they will sue.
We will work with Vanessa Warren, a candidate for ward 6, who also does not believe that she libelled anyone. We agree with her. We will work with the members of the Rural Burlington Greenbelt Coalition (RBGC) who were also served with libel notices. We will not be removing any of the material we published unless ordered to do so by a Court and we will continue to cover one of the most significant events that has taken place that impact on the long term development of the city.
We have asked for an opportunity to interview Vince Rossi, president of Air Park Inc. on two occasions. Mr. Rossi has not been available. He appears to prefer to put his story on the Air Park web site where he can control the content.
The air park is not the only issue of concern. The changes taking place with the Economic Development Corporation, the provincial election, the development potential for the Brant Street Plaza (No-frills and Tim Horton`s are currently located there).
The loss of a city manager that brought about significant changes with the way city hall will run the city – what we all thought was going to be a 60 month run came to a halt after 26 months and many are still figuring out what we do now?
Pressing the city to make their community engagement charter real for the citizens of Burlington.
Following the municipal election and reporting to the voters what we have observed of this council during the past three years and interviewing those people who have put their names forward for public office.
It is nice to be back.
I was saddened to hear that publication was ceasing. I’m sorry to hear of your hardships but must say I am relived you are continuing. I’m not sure how else I’d keep track of local events if not for your publication!
I love your paper coming from Mississauga I was so pleased to read about the truth of the community .Keep up the wonderful work . And I am sure you will recover quickly (due to your drive ) and I Know Vanessa Warren will be the best for the job , she is bright,energetic , committed and very honest and hard working Go for it Vanessa we are all behind you Marg Cromie
I could not be more pleased to have received your email today advising us that you have returned as our eyes and ears on Burlington and Halton! I have already begun to spread the word about your return, and the reaction has been significant! Thank you, thank you, thank you
Jim
I’m not surprised to hear that many readers clamoured for the return of your unique voice. I share others’ relief upon learning your health issue can be remedied with surgery. Our family has received phenomenal health care locally and I expect you will as well. I hope that you will pace your return to work so as to not interfere with your rehabilitation. I’ll be thinking of you on May 30th.
Best wishes,
Jennifer
Pepper may you return to give residents of Burlington truth! There is a disconnect with true info plus many elephants in the room (questions we want to ask but no one will answer) giving too much fuel to incorrect rumours.
Your attitude is refreshingly honest.
Hug your wife and get well soon please.
Glad you are still writing Gazette.
God Bless…..Joan
And nice it is to have you back and publishing again, Pepper. Sorry to hear about your hip and hope all will be well after May 1. My family has had several experiences with that hospital and they were all excellent.
Libel chill is alive and well and is the bane of those of us who speak openly about issues we think are important to our communities at large. I’m a regular reader of your newspaper and have not seen anything approaching libel published there. Should the case go to court, I hope you prevail and stick them with a nice bill for costs.
Godspeed.
All the best, Pepper!
So glad you are back. The Gazette is the ‘BEST’ news organ in town!
HIP hip – hooray – and all the best, comfortable, cheerful and easy recovery! If you’re close to core – I’ll walk with you – when you’re ready!
Cheers! Ricki
So glad you are back, that your illness is a hip replacement and not the ‘big C’ as others have said if you have one of our good surgeons it will work out well after the usual recuperation from surgery. No walking on uneven ground.
As for the Air park business, I do not understand a few things one is does it have the same status as an Air Port?
How does this affect the Public’s want/need to know and coverage of same by the Media, as to the viability of the
air park owners claims of privacy and threats to sue etc.?
I can’t imagine how it is the same.
I think citizens should be able to seek answers and the media should report how that is happening without frivolous threats of lawsuits. Look forward to successful outcomes on both the surgery and the Gazettes future success in all matters.
I’m so glad you are back! Good luck with the surgery and let’s hope Rossi looses his appeal!
Welcome back to the computer keyboard Pepper.
I’ve missed your refreshing views of life in Burlington. They always made me re-think local issues, at least one more time, and usually more. You always included new points of view that previously many of us missed, and for that alone, I thank you.
And not to mention, many thanks are in order for your continuing editorial support of the Burlington Junction train station, (aka Freeman Station). The extent of your coverage has significantly boosted the incredible financial support we are now receiving from these fantastic citizens of Burlington, and also from our outstanding corporate citizens, who all firmly believe in preserving local cultural heritage, and without any hesitation have generously “stepped up to the plate” to finally prevent a treasured city owned station from imminent demolition by this very same City of Burlington.
At one time, we had 4 heritage train stations in the Burlington area, and all during this same glorious era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Three, regretfully are gone now, totally demolished and pretty much forgotten about, but the fourth, the Freeman Station has now been protected by the Friends of Freeman Station under the Heritage Act, and soon the station will have a new life at the northwest corner of Brant Street and Fairview Street, right next to the Central Fire Station. The move to this prominent and highly visible location has now vaulted the historic Burlington Junction Station into the position of being the oldest historical building on Fairview Street,(probably the only one too. This is an unofficial honour, but richly deserved.
Combined, our local citizens and businesses have financially responded with outstanding generosity, that has guaranteed the preservation and restoration of this beautiful, very rare historical train station built 108 years ago. We are so very grateful for this outpouring of overwhelming community support.
Although we have come far with financial donations, we can still use more to help us meet our goal and ensure a complete restoration.
For your loyal readers who wish to donate to The Friends of Freeman Station’s complete restoration, please go to our website at: freemanstation.ca for more detailed information.
Pepper, good luck with your hip replacement surgery. We’ll all be thinking of you during this time.
That keyboard will still be waiting for you when you’re up and ready to get back at it. We’re not going anywhere. We’ll wait for you.
Regards,
Mark Gillies
Friends of Freeman Station
Fundraising Chairman
The Burlington Gazette is back on line…GREAT!
See Pepper Parr article speaking to the Burlington Airpark legal actions against him, Vanessa and RBGC.
The Gazette is preparing for a possible SLAPP suit.
Our Canadian democracy needs proactive citizen groups to challenge the status quo, and proposed changes to legislation and regulations, and certain proposed developments.
Whew, I was concerned it was something life threatening. No fun of course but I have had several friends who have had this surgery and in every case it has worked out well. I hope your surgery goes well too and a speedy recovery.
On the other matter below, please accept this as a non professional friendly suggestion as I am not a Lawyer.
I like you Pepper, despite the fact you are cross with me right now, I like you and think you have a good heart.
Here’s the confidential bit – I have been in 7 Civil Litigations as plaintive in my life, and in Baseball parlance am 7 & 0 at the plate. Litigations take a lot out of one no matter how right you are to engage legal remedy, and should only be used in extreme circumstances when there is no other course since we are not allowed pistols at dawn anymore.
He with the best records almost always wins. However, one has to look dispassionately at the matter and satisfy 3 criteria. One, doe you have a case. 2 are you likely to win ( that number must be higher than 90-95% ). 3 if you win are you likely to collect.
One has to be completely egoless about it and look at the matter dispassionately with one’s lawyer and that lawyer had better be a really good one.
Finally, 95% of all litigations are settled out of court.
You must look at the risk reward ratio.
Having never been a defendant, I can suggest the following be considered without knowing the actual statement they are going after.
What are their resources to prosecute v yours to defend? Is it worth the risk to defend ? Can you lose everything you’ve ever worked for ? Will you, win or lose, be left in a crushing debt ?
Remember, you might end up being exposed to their costs and prejudgment interest along with any monetary damages if you lose.
What will be the impact on your personal health and that of your good wife – as this can be highly stressful ?
Sit down with your lawyer and look at the risk reward dispassionately. Pick your hills to die on. Likely this isn’t one of them.
Remember your Sun Tzu.
Mitigate. Would strongly suggest you consider a retraction and apology and move on. That would undercut their further prosecution. Obviously do this under legal advice.
And get a lawyer from a big firm – the big firm has already prescreened his/her suitability and big firms don’t hire dunderheads and they hate losing. You don’t want the guy who just scraped by in Law School or has limited resources.
If Alicia Florick were available, hire her ; )
Good luck, and I do mean it sincerely.
Kindest regards
John
Awesome news!
I will be posting information on the Alton village website. http://www.altonvillagera.com
Check it out! Spread the word!
Cheers!
Neil
This is great news for Burlington (and hope that’s also the case for your wife!). I believe the full headline is, “WE ARE BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND”.
Saw you across the room last evening, but didn’t make it over to there until Ria and I basically closed the place – and you’d vanished (it was a long night).
Wondered what you thought, in particular, about the Mayor’s comment to the Post about how it’s the city’s only source of information. How quickly people forget, so it’s nice to see you’re back.
I’ll email and broadcast your breaking news – and let me know how else I can help the Gazette. Will you be getting more help? New reporters? Advertisers? More columnists?
Hope you pace yourself, in any event. The balance of 2014 promises to keep you very busy, and typing a ton.
Thanks for that email and happy to hear the Gazette will be back! It must be daunting for you to realise how many people are a fan of your online paper! And maybe also a bit shocking, since you had planned to retire it due to you health…
I am a brand new citizen of Burlington, in fact, my husband and I arrived this past Monday and are still living in a carton castle until everything is unpacked and organised 🙂 My husband has lived in Canada before (Georgetown, ON), but for both of us this is the first time we actually have managed to obtain permanent residence status. And grateful for it.
We have been on the move for the past years and it is good to find a place to settle down in at last (Holland, Germany, Belgium, Australia, Bermuda, America…)
Except for the realtors we dealt with I know nobody here to tell about the Gazette yet 🙂
As to your health problems: I am happy for you that it is “only” your hip that causes problems. I am a long time back and hip sufferer myself due to some nasty falls but I am not at the stage of an operation yet. Some of my friends and acquaintances have had to have it done and I think you will be pleased with the results once you get through recovery. People tell me that as soon as you wake up from the operation, your “normal” hip pain is already gone. You will have pain from the operation itself of course and I have been told that the first two months usually are difficult and can be nasty. The main advice people have give me (just in case I have to have it done eventually) to invest as much as you can in physical therapy afterwards. If you can get yourself into a rehab facility for a couple of weeks, your progress will go really fast. And then afterwards you can tell me what to do and what not to do when ever get to the same point! I wish you luck and good recovering!
As I get settled in here I might contact the Gazette to find out if there is anything I could do to help it. I used to be a news reporter/photographer. Now, photography is just an elaborate hobby and I have made database programming in FileMaker my profession in the past 15 or so years. My husband is in the same line of business. But photography is still my main passion. So if you ever need something done in that field, I would be happy to oblige. I want to build a customer base here and having photos on line with credits might help me do that. Although I would love to write for a newspaper again, I am unsure whether that is doable as I am not a native speaker. (Originally from Holland/The Netherlands).
For now I have to concentrate on unpacking though!
Again: all the best for the op. Do take your time for recovery, I am sure that the Gazette will be patiently waiting for you in the meantime!
Best regards,
Nicky Decorte-Markerink
Welcome back Mr Parr – you have been sorely missed.
There is no media in our City, let alone our region, that provides us with the depth, breadth, and quality of your reporting.
As for the Airdump: word began circulating yesterday that Rossi is now planning to comply with one part of Justice Murray’s ruling. What part? The self-serving part that allows him to accept (for major dumping fees!) materials to “work on his runway and taxiway”.
While Rossi has the right to appeal the court’s decision, my understanding is that the decision legally binds him to comply with the City bylaws until it is overturned.
Yet, he’s once again given the finger to the City, refused to mediate the damages to the neighboring properties, but now he’s decided he shall comply with the part of the ruling serves him (and his bank account) well.
IS THE CITY going to permit him to do this?
I am glad to have you back as I feel much more informed about what’s going on in Burlington with your newsletter. Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Pepper,I hope you have a speedy recovery and I am so glad you are still publishing!!! I look forward to you reading your paper again.!!