Update on Plaintiff Rita Cullen!

Good Day Readers:

Below is an excerpt from our September 16, 2009 posting entitled, "Rita Cullen knows defamation!" concering a lawsuit brought against her by a Mr. Ron Erickson.

Recently we re-visited the file (CI 98-01-09563) of which there are two. One was marked "B" which, as we understand it, usually refers to proceedings related to Pre-Trial Conferences and Case Management Meeting not open to the public. Normally, only the trial judge gets to view its contents. After a final decision has been rendered, it is then up to Their Honour to decide whether it will, in effect, be permanently sealed from future viewing or simply added to the Case Management File available at the Queen's Bench Registry.

A word of caution. The "B" designation might have simply been used by Registry staff to denote two files existed.

After closely examining both, nowhere were we able to find any reference to a Notice of Discontinuance or settlement agreement. This would seem to strongly suggest the case is potentially still alive but has been allowed to lie dormant for several years.

Sincerely,

Clare L. Pieuk

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In September of 1998 Rita Cullen was named as a Defendant in a defamation case. Next time we're at the Law Courts Building we'll request the file be pulled so we can update you on its current disposition.

Ms Cullen ceased being a Manitoba Metis Federation Provincial Director effective June 29, 2006 the date of its last election. We do not know whether she ran and was defeated or chose not to be a candidate. She remains a Plaintiff in the Federation's taxpayer financed defamation lawsuit (Queen's Bench File Registry No. CI 05-01-51955) against the now defunct www.CyberSmokeSignals.com. Presumably her legal fees are still being paid from public funds.

The Plaintiff Ron Erickson was represented in the action cited below (a stripped down verson eliminating the opening legal preamble) by Winnipeg lawyer Richard Beamish (Scurfield Tapper Cuddy) who replaced MMF solicitor Murray Trachtenberg (Posner & Trachtenberg - www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca) late December 1999 as corporate counsel to the "arms-length" Manitoba Metis Federation affiliate the Louis Riel Capital Corporation.