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More on John
Melenchuk | Oka | Dudley
George Inquiry
Summary
trial recommended for lawsuit
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix, Saturday, August 20, 2005
A different judge will need
more information before ruling on the defamation lawsuit brought
by former StarPhoenix reporter James Parker against former member
of Parliament Jim Pankiw, a Saskatoon judge has ruled.
The suit raises important questions
about the freedom of journalists to speak frankly about important
issues of the day and about a citizen's protection from unfair
and improper attacks in the news and other media, Queen's Bench
Justice David Wright ruled this week.
It also raises the question
of whether the exchanges between individuals who are routinely
in the public eye are subject to a different test than would
apply to private citizens, Wright said.
Parker accuses Pankiw, the
former Saskatoon-Humboldt MP, of defaming him in a mailout distributed
to Saskatoon households last year. The mailout contends that
Parker's senior communications job with Indian and Northern Affairs
Canada (INAC) is a "reward for years of praising the government's
race-based agenda while at The StarPhoenix."
Having dealt with the pretrial
issues, Wright instructed lawyers for the parties to ask the
chief justice to assign another judge to the case to ensure it
proceeds quickly to a summary trial, where the parties can be
cross-examined.
A hearing in chambers this
week was supposed to be a quick way to resolve the matter because
it skips the usual pretrial stages, such as cross-examination,
but Wright suggested that procedure shouldn't be used where there
might be significant differences in evidence.
Parker's lawsuit claims the
mailout discredited him by suggesting he lacks integrity and
professionalism for accepting the job and contends Pankiw abused
his parliamentary allowance by using taxpayers' money to pay
for the mailout.
Parker seeks monetary compensation
that "does not exceed $50,000."
Parker's lawyer, Ron Piche,
sent Pankiw a letter asking for an apology and retraction circulated
as widely as the initial mailout. Pankiw then distributed another
e-mail announcing his intention to counter-sue for being the
victim of a "smear job."
A mandatory mediation between
the two parties in October last year failed.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Police seek advice on
charges
The StarPhoenix, November
26, 2004
Saskatoon police haven't decided
if charges will be laid against former Saskatoon-Humboldt MP
Jim Pankiw in connection with an incident at the provincial mediation
office last month.
"The investigation to
this point has been completed and the file was forwarded to the
prosecutor's office for an opinion as to whether or not any criminal
charges should be laid," said Saskatoon police Insp. Jeff
Bent.
It's not uncommon for police
to seek an opinion from a prosecutor regarding charges, he says.
On Oct.15, Pankiw was to meet
with former StarPhoenix reporter James Parker and a mediator.
Pankiw is being sued by Parker, who claims the former MP defamed
him earlier this year in a mailout.
According to Parker's lawyer,
Ron Piche, Pankiw threatened Parker. Pankiw has denied the allegation.
Bent isn't sure when a decision
regarding charges will be made. The file was forwarded to prosecutors
earlier this month.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Police
called to meeting between Pankiw, Parker
Lana Haight, The StarPhoenix,
October 16, 2004
Saskatoon police are investigating
an incident at the provincial mediation office Friday afternoon
when a meeting was scheduled between former StarPhoenix reporter
James Parker, former Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Jim Pankiw and a mediator.
"We were dispatched there
in regards to some type of disturbance," confirmed Saskatoon
Police Staff Sgt. Neal Wylie in an interview.
Wylie would provide no other
details about the incident at the office located in the Sturdy
Stone Building.
Parker's lawyer would only
give a brief account of the afternoon's events.
"A complaint's been filed
with the police with respect to allegations of a threat against
James (Parker) by Mr. Pankiw that was made in the waiting room,"
said Ron Piche in an interview.
Pankiw is being sued by Parker,
who claims the former MP defamed him earlier this year in a mail-out
entitled, "SP Hack Takes Paid Indian Lobbyist Job."
In the leaflet, Pankiw contends that Parker's new job as a communications
officer for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is a "payoff"
and a "reward for years of praising the government's race-based
agenda while at The StarPhoenix."
Pankiw is countersuing, calling
the defamation claim "an unprincipled drive-by smear."
As required by the provincial
justice system, the two parties with their lawyers must attend
a mediation session designed to bring the two sides to a mutually
acceptable agreement to avoid further court proceedings.
"I was required to go
to some kind of mandatory mediation thing and, quite frankly,
I had better things to do with my day and I didn't want to be
there," said Pankiw in an interview after the incident.
Parker and his lawyer were
meeting with the mediator when they heard yelling, according
to Piche.
"We heard some words spoken,
some shouting, some yelling and then emerged from the office
and he (Pankiw) was gone (from the office reception area).
"We saw him for probably
two seconds and, I think, we both were a little bit concerned
about what we saw and we didn't want to expose ourselves to any
potential confrontation," said Piche who wouldn't say who
said what during the incident.
"It was not a pleasant
experience for James or anybody who was in attendance."
Pankiw denied he threatened
Parker and said he wasn't aware of anyone yelling in the office.
"Not that I heard. There
might have been. I wouldn't have been surprised if that . . .
James Parker yelled at somebody. Whatever. That's up to him,"
said Pankiw.
"I made them an offer
to settle and they rejected it," he added.
When asked to whom did he make
the offer, Pankiw replied, "I don't know. Some mediation
specialist of some kind."
Pankiw wouldn't divulge the
details of his offer.
During the telephone interview
with The StarPhoenix, Pankiw viciously attacked Parker, Piche
and The StarPhoenix in a profanity-laced rant.
"I've got a question for
you. Why do you work for a tabloid sleazy crap, just, you know,
(the) editorial board is a piece of dirt that you work for. How
do you tolerate even knowing those people? They're just disgusting
individuals with no morals or values whatsoever. Do you not see
that?"
He said the reporter should
write about "the bias and the innuendo and the selective
omissions and the socialist bent of The StarKleenex. That should
be your story. You're not going to put that in the paper though
are you? And if you tried to, they'd probably fire you, wouldn't
they? Tell me I'm wrong. I know I'm right."
And he said he shouldn't have
bothered returning The StarPhoenix telephone call.
"I just thought I'd let
you know what I think of you people. I don't think much of you.
I think you're a bunch of scum bags and a bunch of losers and
a bunch of socialists and you promote communism and the NDP and
all that crap and garbage.
"You go tell those socialist
pricks that you work for that I don't like them and that The
StarKleenex is a useless tabloid, sleazy rag that does nothing
to promote the goodness or health of our nation or our collective
well-being," he said.
With the mediation session
over, the civil suit proceeds to the trial.
Piche expects a Court of Queen's
Bench judge to hear the case in chambers within the next couple
of months.
Parker's statement of claim
does not state the exact amount of monetary compensation he is
seeking but that it "does not exceed $50,000."
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Pankiw mailouts may face
tribunal
Human rights investigator flags 'blatant untruth'
Betty Ann Adam, with file
from Rod Nickel, The StarPhoenix, April 26, 2004
Pamphlets distributed
by Saskatoon-Humboldt MP Jim Pankiw used "crassly manipulative
strategies" and "blatant untruth," wrote an expert
who analysed them for the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).
Commission investigator Richard
Warman has recommended a Canadian human rights tribunal be called
as a result of the report's findings.
The pamphlets, titled Stop
Indian Crime and It's Clear who the Racists are discriminate
against aboriginal peoples and incite others to discriminate,
wrote Derek Smith, a sociology professor from Carleton University
who specializes in aboriginal affairs.
Smith was commissioned to analyse
the pamphlets for Warman's investigation into nine complaints
about the two pamphlets, which were distributed in the Saskatoon
area in 2002 and 2003.
The tribunal is similar to
a court of law but is less formal and deals only with cases of
discrimination referred to it by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The commission can be compared to the police, which receives
and investigates complaints.
If a tribunal finds a complaint
is substantiated, it could order Pankiw to cease the discriminatory
practice and pay as much as $20,000 in compensation for pain
and suffering caused by the discrimination.
That amount could, theoretically,
be doubled, if the tribunal found Pankiw to have discriminated
willfully or recklessly.
John Melenchuk, a Metis activist
in Saskatoon, complained in February 2003 about the Indian Crime
pamphlet, alleging that he and other aboriginal people had been
discriminated against through adverse differential treatment
and harassment in the provision of a public service. He alleged
the pamphlets incited others to discriminate too.
That pamphlet bore a red stop
sign above the words "Indian Crime." On the back was
a well-known photograph of a Canadian soldier and a Mohawk protester
facing each other during the 1990 Oka crisis. The pamphlet identifies
the masked Mohawk as a terrorist.
Melenchuk complained that his
eight-year-old son had asked him if he is a terrorist as he handed
his father the pamphlet.
Melenchuk said Sunday that
while the commission decision is good news, he's disappointed
that Pankiw has continued to distribute pamphlets in the 16 months
since Melenchuk filed his complaint.
"In the meantime, he put
out two more householders and poisoned a whole other generation
of non-Native youth," Melenchuk said.
The CHRC will decide whether
to request a tribunal at its next meeting, probably in summer,
Melenchuk said. Such a tribunal hearing would probably not happen
before fall, he added.
Pankiw laughed repeatedly Sunday
when contacted for an interview about the report.
"You have a government
tribunal, an extension of government, taking on an elected official?
How preposterous, outrageous and ridiculous.
"All I'm doing is my job,
exposing wasteful mismanagement in government."
Pankiw denied any inaccuracies
in his pamphlets, choosing instead to criticize a reporter repeatedly
as a "useless, slimy piece of dirt.
In his 19-page report, Smith
found the Oka photograph did not have a "single thing"
to do with the context of the pamphlet and was "so gratuitous
and so provocative as to constitute a blatant untruth."
Pankiw's letter to constituents
in the pamphlet asserts that the federal government and Indian
lobbyists have ignored evidence that explains why there is a
greater percentage of aboriginal people incarcerated than of
the general public.
Smith calls that statement
"a gross untruth," saying the issue is one of the most
discussed and debated issues within government departments that
deal with aboriginal peoples.
Pankiw misquoted the Criminal
Code in the pamphlet, according to the investigation, creating
the impression that judges consider sanctions other than prison
for aboriginals only. The code says non-prison sanctions should
be considered for all offenders.
A second pamphlet analysed
by Smith bore a photograph of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau
with former Indian leader David Ahenakew, who was censured in
2002 for praising Hitler's slaying of Jews. The photograph does
not have anything to do with the discussion of policy in the
pamphlet; it simply exploits negative views and attitudes about
aboriginals to gain support for Pankiw's "heavily racialized
view."
Pankiw's negative comments
about "race-based hiring quotas" have nothing to do
with the rest of the pamphlet and are likely an attempt to exploit
the negative effects of the photograph and offensive remarks
quoted in the pamphlet, Smith wrote.
"This is yet another example
of the crassly manipulative strategies," of the pamphlet,
Smith wrote.
Pankiw's claim that Indians
are exempt from paying taxes is a "gross oversimplification
and overgeneralization," Smith wrote.
Pankiw responded to the commission
that it doesn't have jurisdiction over him as a member of Parliament.
But if it did have jurisdiction, Pankiw said, he was doing his
duty as an MP, not providing a service.
Pankiw also wrote in his response
to the complaint that his opinions derived from government publications
already in the public domain and did not discriminate or harass.
Smith found Pankiw's letter
of defence to be "inflammatory, immoderate, uncivil, overstated
and (amounting) to a rant saturated with the same sorts of racialized
epithets and ideas" as the second pamphlet.
The CHRC does have jurisdiction,
said Joseph Maingot, a former Clerk of the House of Commons and
author of the work, Parliamentary Privilege in Canada, who was
consulted by the commission.
The pamphlet was issued by
Pankiw as an individual MP and thus was not protected by immunity
provided to Parliament as a whole, Maingot wrote.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
