Thank you MMF lawyer Murray Trachtenberg!

www.ptlaw.mb.ca; mtrachtenberg@ptlaw.mb.ca

Good Day Readers:

On Friday, January 22, 2009 yet another Case Management Conference was held about which we will say more shortly. Counselor Trachtenberg presented Co-Defendant Terry Belhumeur and I with what is called a Request to Admit-Documents. It contained 204 pages of items everything from old CyberSmokeSignals' postings to Rule 51 from the Court of Queen's Bench Rules to the kitchen sink. Lacking any formal legal training it would appear these are the documents Mr. Trachtenberg will be entering into evidence on behalf of his clients at trial.

Counselor Tachtenberg is truly amazing. He's tendered more documentation so far than you'd see in a first degree Murder case! One of the items in "the package" was an article written about the lawsuit by Winnipeg Free Press Senior Investigative Reporter Dan Lett during January of 2006. We wanted to post it previously but had temporarily misplaced the item. Thank you Mr. Trachtenberg.

Since the WFP article first appeared two more Plaintiffs (former Board of Directors Darrel Deslauriers and Rosemarie McPherson) have signed Notices of Discontinuance and a fifth has indicated they're prepared to do the same. As soon as the paperwork has been completed we'll identify the individual by name and share the documentation with you. The person in question is significant in that it is our understanding they either tabled the MMF resolution to sue CyberSmokeSignals or seconded it. Further, "X" was one of four remaining Plaintiffs who continue to have their legal costs paid by the taxpayer financed Manitoba Metis Federation even though they are no longer Board of Directors effective January 29, 2006 the date of the last election. These include Rita Cullen, Joyce Langan and Darryl Montgomery. We do not know why they are no longer Board of Directors - did the decide not to run in 2006 for whatever reason(s) or were they defeated?

What's interesting is Plaintiff Cullen is herself been sued for defamation. Last time we checked nothing had happened on the file for quite awhile but since there was no evidence of a Notice of Discontinuence it remains active. Wonder if she's planning to run in this year's election?

On behalf of our readership again thank you Mr. Trachtenberg for providing us with a copy of the Winnipeg Free Press article so we can now post it.

Sincerely,

Clare L. Pieuk

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca

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Metis leader sues dissidents over Net articles - Some MMF officials abandon suit

January 19, 2006

MANITOBA's top Metis leader is being accused of using Manitoba Metis Federation funds to stifle criticism of his leadership.

MMF president David Chartrand is pursuing a lengthy and expensive lawsuit against a small band of dissidents who criticized him on an Internet site devoted to Metis issues.

Chartrand and 20 directors and employees of the MMF filed suit in May 2005 alleging they had been defamed by Terry Belhumeur, a Metis hunting guide and activist, and Clare Pieuk, a former general manager fo the Louis Riel Capital Corp., an arm's-length agency of the MMF.

The suit also names an unidentified person or persons using the e-mail address metis_mom@hotmail.com.

But in the past week, two key MMF officials listed as plaintiffs have filed motions to have their names stricken from the lawsuit.

Richard De La Ronde, an influential member of the MMF board of directors from the Winnipeg region, was the first to formally withdraw his name from the lawsuit.

In an interview, De La Ronde said he did not think it was necessary to continue a lawsuit against CyberSmokeSignals, which has made efforts to tone down some of its content in recent months.

Legitimate issues

De La Ronde said he believes the website has a right to raise legitimate issues about management and policy at the MMF, and that Metis leaders must be able to endure legitimate criticism from a variety of sources.

"I think the lawsuit has served its purpose," De La ronde said. "I don't see the point in continuing with this. The lawsuit has toned down its content."

This week, a lawyer representing CyberSmokeSignals said he has been notified that Bonnie McIntyre, a board member from the Dauphin region joined De La Ronde in asking that her name be taken off the list of plaintiffs. Sources at the MMF say other plaintiffs are preparing to strike their names from the suit as well.

Belhumeur and Pieuk have worked together for the past two years to maintain the CyberSmokeSignals.com website, which has become a lightning rod for Metis people opposed to Chartrand's presidency.

In January 2004, CyberSmokeSignals published a petition that made a number of allegations about misspending of MMF funds. The following month, the MMF sent defamation notices to Pieuk and Lionel Chartrand, a Metis lawyer who contributed to CyberSmokeSignals and sometimes provided legal advice.

Earlier this year, a statement of claim was filed against Pieuk and Belhumeur, who does not actively manage the website but is the registered owner of the domain name.

Winnipeg lawyer Jeffrey Niederhoffer, who represents Pieuk, said the MMF lawsuit is a cynical attempt to silence legitimate critics of Chartrand and others within the federation. Niederhoffer said the MMF is unfairly using its extensive financial resources to bully Pieuk and Belhumeur, who is representing himself.

"This is really an effort to try and stifle Clare's freedom of speech on the internet," said Niederhoffer. "He feels that the truth of the allegations are proven by evidence we have in our possession

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca