Former Richmond Hill councillor at centre of SLAPP vs defamation showdown

Resident seeks to toss out Nick Papa's defamation case

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 9, 2016
By Kim Zarzour

A Richmond Hill resident and his former ward councillor are set to face off in court in one of the first cases to test Ontario’s new anti-SLAPP legislation.

Nick Papa, who represented Ward 5 for 18 years before he was defeated by Karen Cilevitz in the 2014 municipal election, is suing Frank Zeppieri, claiming the resident and head of a local ratepayers group published or distributed defamatory words against him.

He is seeking damages in the amount of $750,000 and punitive damages in the amount of $250,000.

Zeppieri is hoping the courts will toss out the lawsuit under Ontario’s new anti-SLAPP legislation. Known as the Protection of Public Participation Act, it is designed to discourage Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) that are intended to censor, intimidate and silence critics.

The case was to be heard in Newmarket courthouse Wednesday, but The Liberal learned today it has been postponed.

The issue stems back to 2011 when Intracorp Projects Acquisition submitted an application to the town to build five apartment buildings close to a residential area in Papa’s ward. The application for three 15-storey and two nine-storey condominiums, totaling 720 units , which proposed amendments to the town’s official plan and zoning bylaws, was set to go before the OMB and generated a significant backlash among residents in the surrounding area.

Zeppieri, head of the local ratepayers association, was one of the more vocal opponents, speaking at public meetings, council meetings and in the press. He attempted to persuade Papa to act in the interest of residents who were opposed.

According to Zeppieri’s motion before the Ontario Superior Court,  Papa praised the high-density application at council meetings, stating that it had “some merits” and “many good things for the whole economy”, calling it a “beautiful application” that needed some “fine-tuning” and criticizing those opposed to it as “fear-mongering”.

In the face of strong opposition from local residents and town council, the court statement says, the developer withdrew its high-density application before it was heard by the OMB.

Papa’s supportive comments about the proposed development, and his failure to support the ratepayers’ association from the beginning, prompted Zeppieri to rally opposition against the politician’s bid for re-election during the 2014 election.

Zeppieri created and paid for an advertisement published in the Richmond Hill Liberal Oct. 23, showing Papa’s face with the words “On Oct. 27th show him he is UNWANTED”. He also created a Facebook page titled “Unwanted: Nick Papa Ward 5 Councillor”.

“As part of the Facebook page, there was a random photograph of the rap artist known as Snoop Dogg … Zeppieri states that the sole purpose in including the photograph on the Facebook page was to draw more internet traffic,” the court statement states.

The publication consists of “expression of opinion, they are fair comment made in good faith and without malice on a matter of significant public interest, namely the Richmond Hill municipal election and the high-density development application”, the statement says.

The public interest in allowing Zeppieri to express himself outweighs any harm suffered by the politician, his motion states.

The statement of claim issued by Papa says he never supported the Intracorp Development referred to in an article distributed by Zeppieri; it alleges the advertisement, and redistributed article, are untrue and defamatory.

The Facebook page was also defamatory and intended to disparage Papa’s reputation, Papa’s statement says. “The Facebook page expressly or by implication suggests that Papa is “wanted” for criminal conduct and associates Papa with the rap singer “Snoop Dogg” who is known as a person who uses drugs and has been associated with criminal activity.”

The Facebook page also asserted that Papa and former Ward 2 Councillor Carmine Perrelli were best buddies, which is false, Papa’s statement says.

“Zeppieri’s attempt to associate Papa with Mr. Pirelli [sic] (who was notoriously disliked as a Richmond Hill councillor) and Snoop Dogg is intended to disparage Papa’s reputation.”

Calls to Papa’s lawyer, Paul Starkman, were not returned at press time.

None of the allegations made by either side have been proven in court.

Zeppieri’s lawyer, Iain MacKinnon, said the Richmond Hill resident’s legal battles are taking a big financial toll — costing Zeppieri “tens of thousands of dollars” for this anti-SLAPP case, with much more expensive fees ahead if the defamation suit goes forward. 

“One of the important purposes of the Act is to ensure people are not financially crippled because of comments on important matters that should be discussed,” said MacKinnon, a lawyer at Linden & Associates in Toronto.

The case is expected to take up most of the day, he said, and a reserved judgement is expected.

“It’s a whole new area, a whole new Act,” he said. “There is not much precedent to go on here, or in other provinces, either.”

The first such case was heard in London, Ontario, in April and a decision has yet to be released by the judge.

“We think we’ve got reasonably good arguments that the action by Papa is a SLAPP lawsuit, because it has to do with comments he made on important matters of public interest … and he should be able to freely express those views”