False information circulated about settlement of The Current’s legal claim against MV

On February 7th 2024 The Current published a joint media release advising of the settlement of its lawsuit against MV Township and the former Council. LINK: The Current’s legal claim against Madawaska Valley Township and former Council has been settled. The terms made public were that Council would revoke the 2019 Resolution targeting The Current and that the “resolution of the matter includes an undisclosed sum of money.” The recipient of the money referred to was not mentioned. In compliance with the settlement, Council revoked the Resolution at its meeting that day.

The Current subsequently learned that statements were circulating which alleged that the sum of money referred to had been paid by The Current to the Township, and that it represented former Councillor Ernie Peplinski’s demand at the August 2019 Council meeting that The Current’s owners pay $60,000. That sum represented the Township’s legal costs in their unsuccessful defence to the writer’s human rights claim against Peplinski which was finalized in 2017 and which, among other things, required him to issue an apology to me. The truth is that The Current was not required to make any payment in the settlement of our lawsuit; rather, it was The Current and its owners who received the “undisclosed sum of money.”

On learning of this, The Current wrote to the Defendants’ lawyers putting them on notice of this and requesting their comments as the source of the misinformation was believed to have been instigated by or on behalf of Peplinski himself. We also asked for confirmation that all the other Defendants disassociated themselves from such conduct. No response has been received in the seven weeks since the letter was sent.

However, on July 24th an application to the Court was made on behalf of the Defendants for an order requesting that the Court file be sealed. The Current regarded this as an attempt to prevent access to the truth by members of the public. We responded by providing the Court with a copy of our letter containing details of the false information being circulated and registering our objection to the sealing. On August 2nd the Court responded by refusing the Defendants’ application to seal the file. That means there is no impediment to anyone who wishes to review as much of Pembroke Court file #CV21-00000002-0000 as they wish, upon payment of the relevant Court fee.

On a related matter, after dragging its feet for more than 18 months the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRAO) recently released its response to The Current’s complaints of abuse (plundering) of the Township’s municipal insurance policy resulting in two Sault Ste.Marie law firms receiving almost half a million dollars in legal fees. LINK:  Is this unjust enrichment of MV lawyers a gift that will keep on giving? A full report on this will follow in the near future as the Regulator’s investigation provoked further untruthful and defamatory attacks on The Current’s owners. More importantly, it also highlights serious issues of public interest not only to MV ratepayers but also to those in other municipalities across the province.

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