Baptist preacher gets down and dirty in Shelburne mayor's race

Cyber-defamation becoming growing problem in Canada.

"Hill's comments are reckless, obviously baseless and subject to defamation action in the Nova Scotia courts" 

In what appears to be a botched attempt to torpedo the campaign of a Shelburne mayoral candidate, Grace Baptist Church minister Debi Hill has launched what appears to be a campaign of online slander and innuendo targeting a Nova Scotia mining executive who has shown interest in shipping ore to China from the Port of Shelburne.

In a Facebook site which was established to create a "forum for discussion" about local issues and politics - but which Hill has now obtained full administrative control over - the pastor falsely claims that John Wightman, former executive director of the Nova Scotia Prospectors Association defaulted on $11 million loan from a New York capital funding firm.

On her Shelburne Exchange Facebook site, Hill says,"Wightman is the same guy who was going to pour millions into our ecomomy 2 years ago with gold, but has apparently defaulted on $11 million in loans."

In another separate post, below a photograph of Wightman, Hill reposted the insinuation that Wightman had defaulted to the tune of $11 million. Media stories from which Hill purports to glean her knowledge clearly identify Quebec firm Ressources Appalaches as the defaulter and clearly identify Wightman as an expert in the gold mining industry in Nova Scotia, from whom the story's authors sought comment.

Wightman, who has been miner for more than three decades and has held senior positions in various mining oganizations, is held in high regard in the Nova Scotia mining community. 

Wightman has produced highly-assayed ore containing lithium from a claim near Yarmouth, that he says may result in 10,000 tonnes or more being shipped to China. A Chronicle Herald story Tuesday spelled out a seeming "gold rush" for lithium deposits in Nova Scotia. Wightman told SCT in earlier interviews that he was grateful for the assistance of Shelburne Town councilor and current mayoral candidate Roy O'Donnell regarding possible shipping options in the area.

When contacted by SCT regarding Hill's assertion of his financial malfeasence, Wightman said the claims by Hill are "absolutely false" and that the newspaper and magazine stories about the loan default referred to the Quebec firm Ressources Appalaches.

"Hill's comments are reckless, obviously baseless and subject to defamation action in the Nova Scotia courts," says a Canadian legal expert consulted by SCT. In Canada, defamation law is based on the British standard, which holds to the principal of "reverse onus."

The law holds that, once accused in the courts with slander, the author of slanderous remarks is presumed guilty and must prove their innocence. "Should he sue Ms. Hill, Mr. Wightman would have no problem obtaining a judgment in Nova Scotia."

Recently, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court awarded a $400,000 defamation judgment in favour of Nova Scotia plaintiffs claiming to have been slandered in online comments. Online defamation is increasingly finding its way into courts in Canada, the United States and Great Britian. In the past four years, there have been more than sixty-five judgments awarded in Canadian Courts for "cyber-defamation", including posts on Facebook and other sites.

In several cases, an online apology was not considered to mitigate the damage to reputation incurred. Some cases stipulated that "having control" over the content of a web site was a contributing factor in the judgment.

When asked for his comments on the Facebook posts, Roy O'Donnell would not comment other than to say the Facebook comments speak for themselves.

Hill did not respond to a request from SCT for comments on the story.