HALIFAX: Richmond County’s former warden is claiming that a current councillor and a former municipal official are among those behind a Facebook group at the centre of a libel suit.
In a notice of action and statement of claim filed Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax, councillor Steve Sampson alleges that fellow councillor Gilbert Boucher, Richmond County’s former director of tourism and economic development, Jeff Stanley, as well as Ellen and Geno Polegato, “used anonymous Facebook accounts to post false and defamatory comments about him under the false names ‘Jake Sampson’ and ‘Jim Davis’ on the Facebook group ‘Taxpayers of Richmond County NS,’” according to a press release Sampson issued Tuesday morning.
The court application by Sampson comes three weeks after Supreme Court Justice Michael Wood ordered Bell Canada and Seaside Communications to release the names and addresses of customers whose Internet provider addresses matched those connected to the names “Jake Sampson” and “Jim Davis,” regarding several early-2016 postings to the Facebook group, which lists “Jake Sampson” as an administrator.
Sampson, who claims he was the target of an anonymous extortion attempt last April, also confirmed that he has turned over the results of the Supreme Court decision to the RCMP as part of that investigation.
On Tuesday morning, Sampson said he was dismayed to learn that a council colleague and former municipal employee were among the names uncovered in the Facebook probe.
“I’m extremely disappointed that those statements or remarks that went under anonymous posts could not have been shared in a proper face-to-face discussion,” the long-time councillor stated.
The former warden, who is not re-offering in this weekend’s municipal elections, noted that Boucher was among the municipal councillors who launched an unsuccessful attempt to block the forthcoming reduction of municipal council districts from 10 to five and also voted against a comprehensive set of financial reforms for the municipality last winter.
Boucher, who is seeking re-election in district 4, and Stanley, who recently accepted a secondment to the Cape Breton Partnership, were both tight-lipped regarding Sampson’s legal actions when contacted by The Reporter Tuesday morning. Boucher replied “no comment,” while Stanley insisted that he had not participated in the social media group in question.
“I am not ‘Jake Sampson,’ and I have never written or sent a post to the ‘Taxpayers of Richmond County NS’ Facebook site,” Stanley declared, offering no further comment.
These developments come just over a week after a leaked draft report of an investigation by Nova Scotia’s Office of the Ombudsman determined that a “culture of entitlement” emerged in the municipality with regards to expense claims filed by staff members and councillors, citing Sampson and Richmond’s Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Warren Olsen, in several instances.
Days after the draft report was leaked, the provincial Department of Municipal Affairs said it was reviewing the findings, while the RCMP confirmed it was investigating Richmond County’s financial situation.
At that time, Olsen announced he was taking a leave to seek treatment for substance abuse. Although Olsen joined Sampson on the legal quest to identify the “Jake Sampson” and “Jim Davis” Facebook pseudonym-users, Olsen’s name does not appear on the court documents filed Tuesday morning.