– Norwegian
Government-Owned Cermaq Vs. Don Staniford of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture
Read Judgment in full online here
Don Staniford Wins!!!!!!
“Salmon-farming
activist wins in court” (The Canadian Press, 29 September)
“Court
dismisses salmon farming defamation suit” (Times Colonist, 29 September)
“Activist
wins defamation case launched by salmon-farming company” (The
Canadian Press/Calgary Herald/Windsor Star/Ottawa Citizen/Montreal Gazette/Metro
News/The Province, 29 September)
“B.C.
Supreme Court upholds right of anti-salmon farm activist to make defamatory
remarks/ “Court
upholds salmon farm foe's right to make defamatory remarks” (The
Vancouver Sun/Times Colonist, 29 September)
Here's the summary Judgment:
Read Judgment in full online here
On 15 October 2012, Cermaq's lawyers appealed the judgment:
Read the 'Notice of Appeal' - online here
Madame
Justice Elaine Adair’s judgment will be available from 10.30am (Pacific
Standard Time) today (Friday 28 September) via the Supreme Court of British
Columbia – online
here
If
Cermaq’s lawsuit and injunction
are successful, over fifty statements will be deemed illegal and “any person”, “servants”
or “agents” will be ordered to remove the ‘Defamatory Words’ from the
internet:
Read
more background via “Norway’s
Injunction Kills Free Speech!” and “Gagging the Truth
Becomes Mainstream”
Read Cermaq's 'Amended Notice of Civil Claim' - online here
“If successful, the
injunction would outlaw bumper stickers like ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Eat
Farmed Salmon’ and 'Wild Salmon Don't Do Drugs' and truthful statements
corroborated by peer-reviewed science such as ‘Salmon Farming Spreads Disease’
and ‘Salmon Farming Kills Wild Baby Salmon’,” said Don
Staniford following the 20-day trial in February. “It’s a sad but simple fact that
Norwegian-owned salmon farming kills all over the globe: whether it is the
killing of sea lions in British Columbia; the deaths of workers in Chile; the
slaughter of seals in Scotland or the devastation of wild salmon at home in
Norway.”
“Norway now rivals China in its abuse of freedom of
speech and the Draconian measures sought to suppress dissent,” continued
Staniford. “The Norwegian Government,
via their state
ownership of Cermaq, is abusing the Canadian courts to muzzle global
criticism of Norwegian-owned salmon farming. Norway’s reputation as a champion
of free speech now lies in the gutter along with the Nobel Peace Prize it
awarded in 2010 to the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Shame on Norway, shame on Cermaq!”
Watch
Norway’s TV2 reporting on the lawsuit – online
here and online
here
Speaking after the end of the 20-day trial, David
Sutherland (legal counsel for Don Staniford) said:
“We need to create a separate cause of action, which does
not have the adverse presumptions of defamation that protect the reputations of
individual people but forces the corporation to, in fact, prove the sorts of
damages and other criteria that are involved in the court of injurious
falsehood.”
Watch via The Straight's: 'Media
lawyer for Don Staniford calls for changes in the way corporations can sue for
loss of reputation'
On
the first day of the trial (16 January 2012), a police officer and officer from
the Canadian Border Services Agency visited the court to inform Mr. Staniford
he would be deported. Following the
trial, Mr. Staniford was deported from Canada and moved immediately to Norway to “slay
the dragon in its own lair”.
“Staniford began his journey back to Europe in the same
over-the-top theatrical style that inflamed his targets: He arrived at
Vancouver International Airport clad in an orange Guantanamo Bay-like jump suit
and fake, rubber chains,” reported
Global TV (5 March).
“The Canadian government chose to intimidate me on day one
of my court case by turning up at the courtroom in a very public and calculated
display of police force, yet, when deporting me, they were embarrassed by the
orange jumpsuit and chose to whisk me out of public sight,” said Staniford in
an interview with The
Times Colonist (1 March).
Read
more via “Don
Staniford: Salmon Farming Critic Removed from Canada” and “Bad
Boy Salmon Activists Teaming Up in Norway”
Read Cermaq's demand letter of 18 March 2011 launching the lawsuit - online here
Read Wild Salmon First's blog: "How Cermaq Abused the Canadian Courts" – online here
Read more background via Wild Salmon First - online here