Burnaby’s Alan Dutton, an active member of Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion, is taking energy giant Kinder Morgan to court and hoping the province will reintroduce anti-SLAPP suit legislation.
Dutton was one of five defendants named in Kinder Morgan's multimillion-dollar civil suit brought forward when the company sought an injunction against protesters on Burnaby Mountain in November.
"The issue here is our democracy and the fundamental right to protest," Dutton told the NOW. "It's to show people we can fight big multinational corporations, and we can be successful."
Kinder Morgan's initial suit against the five protesters listed several general accusations, including assault and trespassing, and sought damages that could have totalled millions. While the other four have quietly settled with the company, Dutton is refusing and instead has applied to have the case against him thrown out based on lack of evidence.
Dutton was part of the anti-pipeline protests on Burnaby Mountain, but he maintains he was not involved in many of the unlawful activities outlined in Kinder Morgan's suit.
The BC Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Dutton's case on January 13. If the judge rules in Dutton's favour, he could ask for Kinder Morgan to repay his legal costs, but if he loses, Kinder Morgan could ask Dutton to pay. But money is not the point, Dutton said.
"What we want is recognition this was a malicious, vexatious, frivolous lawsuit that was launched to deny me my Charter rights," he said.
Dutton, a retired academic, described the case as a SLAPP suit, which is generally used to silence critics while burdening them with enormous legal costs.
Dutton's lawyer, Neil Chantler, said his client has a good chance of winning and that cases like this don't come along very often.
"This is a excellent opportunity for the court to consider the appropriate response where the court's process is being abused by a big corporation trying to bully people who are opposed to its economic activities," he said.
Chantler figures Dutton was singled out because he is the public face of BROKE.
"They've dragged Alan Dutton through the mud," he said. "He should never been named in this suit in the first place."
Dutton said he's been contacting organizations and political parties, hoping to push for new anti-SLAPP suit legislation in B.C.
The NDP brought in legislation against SLAPP suits more than a decade ago, but it only lasted a five months, because the Liberals axed it after they took power in 2001, Chantler explained.
No one from Kinder Morgan was available for immediate comment.
