In the latest chapter of an ongoing legal battle involving two senior county officials, Guelph blogger Bill Manderson says he has been served with a contempt of court motion.
The 74-year-old retired engineer says he plans to attend Superior Court on March 9 and make a statement in his defence.
Late last week he had not yet had time to review the stack of files that came with the notice on Feb. 25, but Manderson said the inference is that he violated the injunction issued last February by Judge Cas Herold.
That injunction was issued as a temporary measure until a trial is complete in the case of a $2.4-million libel lawsuit filed against Manderson last year by county councillor Brad Whitcombe and county Chief Administrative Officer Scott Wilson.
Recently lawyers for McCarthy Tetrault, the firm representing Wilson and Whitcombe, filed an amended statement of claim seeking just $3 in damages, as well as a permanent injunction.
The current injunction prohibits Manderson from posting anything on his website, smelly-welly.com, that refers to the two county officials as criminals, liars, or mentally ill, or that compares them to Nazis.
In an interview last week, McCarthy Tetrault lawyer Chris Wayland said he believes there is material on Manderson’s website that does violate the current injunction and hinted further legal action may be the result.
“We may take steps with respect to that,” Wayland said, adding he did not want to comment further at the time.
Date set for peace bond case
On Feb. 26, Manderson was back in Guelph court for a parallel peace bond proceeding that was first initiated by Wilson and Whitcombe in January 2009.
If granted, the peace bond will require Manderson to keep the peace for 12 months or face criminal charges. The complaints stem from alleged written threats made by Manderson in over 150 letters to county officials, as well as on his website.
The peace bond proceedings have been delayed no fewer than five times and last month were set for early December. But Stewart Taylor, Senior Justice of the Peace for Ontario’s western region, intervened and told the parties to return to court last week to try and schedule the matter for an earlier date.
Presiding Justice of the Peace Walter Rojek suggested March 16, but private prosecutor Sharon Wilmot, of McCarthy Tetrault, said that date would not work for her firm due to another trial she expects will run from March to June.
Lawyer Gregory Oakes, who appeared on behalf of Manderson’s lawyer David Doney (who is recovering from surgery), said the date did not work for the defence either.
After some discussion and a brief recess, Rojek said he was pleased to announce the case would proceed on Aug. 3 and continue, if necessary, the following two days.
“That’s the best we can do,” he said to Wilmot. “Either you take it or walk away from this case.”
Outside the court, Manderson said he is “ecstatic” with the August date because it will allow the case to proceed before this fall’s municipal elections.
