Our letter to CNN's Nancy Grace!

http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/nancy.grace/

Tansi/Good Day Readers:

We have received confirmation our letter to Nancy Grace was successfully transmitted.

Sincerely,

Clare L. Pieuk

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From: HLN.Prog.Replies@cnn.com

Subject: Seeking Justice

Date: 31/01/2009/7:12 PM

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Dear Nancy,

Hope your twins are growing like a couple little weeds.

Lacking any formal legal training, we have become Big Fans of your show finding it to be very informative.

We're a non-Aboriginal Blog located in Winnipeg, Manitoba currently involved in a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) defamation case where the focus is not on any alleged harm done to the Plaintiffs but rather litigation chill to discourage criticism of the spending practices of a Canadian taxpayer funded corporation.

Here are the basic facts of a convoluted lawsuit now entering its sixth year:

(1) The case has its genesis in mid-September 2003 when we became aware the publicly financed Board of Directors of the Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. (MMF, Federation) had assigned one of its lawyers to monitor our precursor site www.CyberSmokeSignals.com (now defunct) looking for litigious material

(2) Once we became aware we had, in effect, been placed on "a defamation watch," we exercised due diligence by engaging the pro bono services of a then Manitoba Legal Aid attroney to act as our General Legal Counsel. This was publicly acknowledged. It was the same individual who proposed, wrote and subsequently sanctioned the posting of the allegedly defamatory material (a petition calling for greater financial controls on MMF election campaign funding

(3) We later discovered our General Legal Counsel had entered into a retainer agreement to provide legal services to the Federation yet has never been named as a Co-Defendant

(4) By visiting the Manitoba Justice Department's website (File Search Registry - wwww.jus.gov.mb.ca) and entering CI05-01-41955), you will find to date an incredible 145 documents, most by the Plaintiffs, have been entered into the record

(5) From the beginning one Board of Director refused to sign the Statement of Claim while four others have subsequently withdrawn by signing Notices of Dicontinuance

(6) The lawyer for the Plaintiffs is:

Murray N. Trachtenberg

Posner & Trachtenberg

710-491 Portage Avenue

Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E4

Telephone: (204) 940-9602

Facsimile: (204) 944-8878

Website: www.ptlaw.mb.ca

E-mail: mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

(7) Shortly we will be attending our fourth Pre-Trial Conference presided over by a Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Justice. Counsel for the Plaintiffs successfully applied for a publication ban. However, it only covers this stage of the proceedings

8) We believe this case will set precendents and raise technological issues that will reverberate among Bloggers well beyond Manitoba

If you or your staff require further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Clare L. Pieuk

Blogmaster

www.CyberSmokeBlog.blogspot.com

pieuk@shaw.ca