Police chief silences website critics
By Linda Slobodian
April 30, 2005
A secret lawsuit launched by Calgary police Chief Jack Beaton has led two of the people behind a website critical of the city's top cop to apologize -- and reveal other architects of the Internet attack.
Calgary's Rene Fisher and Janette Vahey -- previously referred to as John and Jane Doe in court documents -- must also pay $5,000 towards Beaton's legal bill, according to legal documents released Friday.
The case, which had been kept under wraps for months after a judge sealed its contents, was partly revealed to the public after the Calgary Herald and two other media outlets successfully argued to open it.
The website purported to represent officers and civilians who were victims of "tyranny."
Beaton took unusual steps to track down the authors of the anonymous Standfirm website when he secretly obtained the rarely used Anton Piller Order to seize a computer from their southeast home last month.
Beaton said he wanted to preserve "public trust and confidence" and he was obliged to "challenge untruths and baseless accusations -- and those who make them."
The chief, who was called a "bad apple" on the website which appeared briefly last October, has been chastised for putting a sealing order on court documents.
"You've got the chief of police who is suing in a public forum and has succeeded in having this entire action secret. That's unacceptable," said lawyer Scott Watson, who represented the Herald, joined by Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and A-Channel, in a challenge to unseal the documents.
Details emerged about Beaton's mission to out the website's participants after Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Cairns ordered portions of his statement of claim to be unsealed Friday.
"This is a wake-up call. We don't want actions like this in secret," said Watson. "We'd like to know who is paying for it."
Beaton said the costs of his litigation are being covered by a city legal fund.
"All public service bodies have a legal fund. I have 130 suits, actions I have to defend," said the chief. "The $5,000 is to go toward some of the legal costs of this investigation."
Beaton said he is satisfied that Vahey and Fisher are "genuinely sorry" for what they did or "it could have gone" further in terms of a monetary penalty.
"I expect as a leading public figure to be criticized. That's why I asked for nothing for me or my family," he said.
Beaton reaffirmed his commitment to find all individuals responsible.
"These two individuals have agreed to give full disclosure on their involvement and the involvement of others . . . They'll come testify," said Beaton.
The settlement says Vahey and Fisher must disclose who was involved in the subsequent critical
Code 200 Website.
"I think these people were pawns in a larger scheme," said Beaton.
Now that the computer, its contents also sealed under the order, has been released, the investigation can continue, he said. To comment on how long it will take to get to the bottom of the website, would be "pure speculation" at this point, said the chief.
The amended statement of claim that was unsealed described Vahey and Fisher as "authors and contributors who have conspired amongst themselves to create" the Standfirm website and took deliberate actions to disguise their identity.
It repeatedly referred to claims on the website as being defamatory and containing innuendo detrimental to the chief of police. It stated that Beaton said the Standfirm website "when read as a whole, is highly defamatory to him to the extent that it constitutes an unlawful and actionable libel."
The statement claimed the words in the website by way of ordinary meaning and innuendo meant the chief "is not fit to serve in his statutory office, that he is a person of questionable morals, that he engages in criminal conduct, that he neglects his duties as Chief of Police, that he is untruthful, that he condoned the neglect of duty and/or poor performance of other police officers under his command, and that he is in the overall, unfit to hold office."
Vahey and Fisher could not be reached for comment.
Their lawyer, David de Vlieger, said his clients were happy the process was close to being over.
"They've given an apology. They regret some of their actions in going forward putting forward information they were unable to prove," said de Vlieger.
"My clients have consented to this matter being unsealed. They're happy to have the minutes of settlement being made public," he added.
The settlement also orders them to attend a confidential meeting -- its date to be set -- "to promote healing and reconciliation, to the extent possible, between CPS members and employees who feel aggrieved by the Standfirm website."
Court documents stated Beaton agreed not to take any further steps against them. Meanwhile, media lawyers head back to court May 11 to pursue a complete unsealing of the documents. "The entire file wasn't unsealed," said Watson.
© Calgary Herald 2005