Thornhill Councillors Valerie Burke and Erin Shapero are each being sued for $60,000 for trespassing by a Markham landowner.
In a statement of claim filed in the Ontario Superior Count, Upper Unionville Inc., the owner of the 205-acre Beckett farm property at the northeast corner of 16th Avenue and Kennedy Road said that on three occasions the councillors trespassed on the property.
The statement further charges that Shapero and Burke used the property as a “backdrop” to “push their political objectives” relating to a proposal when they posed for media pictures and interviews on the site. The proposal, recently defeated by a seven to six council vote, sought to prevent future development on roughly 2,000 hectares of prime farm land in Markham.
“To us, this looks like an attempt at intimidation and bullying,” said Coun. Burke of the lawsuit. “It’s basically like trying to put a muzzle on elected officials.”
“In my opinion, this is a SLAPP suit,” said Coun. Shapero. A SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) is defined by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary as a lawsuit “in which a corporation, business or developer sues an organization in an attempt to scare it into dropping protests against its actions.”
Silvio DeGasperis, president of Upper Unionville Inc., referred requests for comment to his lawyer Colin Stevenson. Repeated calls to Mr. Stevenson went unreturned. Coun. Burke, who said that she didn’t believe she had trespassed, described the lawsuit as “upsetting and frustrating.” “I just want to get on with doing my job, and this has been a major distraction,” she said. “And I think that’s what they want.” Upper Unionville Inc. purchased the Beckett farm property last year.