Thursday, October 12, 2006

Montague Election 7 : The 'We Did You A Favour' Defence

Later today, a report from last night's all-candidates meeting. As an appetizer, however, consider the following text from Councillor Bill Eckersley's election flyer, referring to the failed defamation lawsuit against Don Page:

...he acknowledges this was an expensive course of action for our citizens, however it did result in Case Law by establishing the right for all individuals of this province to present to councils, their perceived wrong doing, without fear of legal action from council collectively.

Unfortunately it is a fact there are times that the costs born by a few result in democracy for the many.

Leaving aside the slightly tortured grammar, is it just me or is this the same defence as the hacker who breaks into a computer system and then claims to have done the owner a favour by highlighting a security flaw? Or perhaps the first burglar to rob a house in a town where nobody locks their front doors? It's certainly an interesting perspective on the whole debacle.

I know, let's go out and spend a bunch of taxpayer dollars from a tiny little township, because I feel like setting a legal precedent today. Haven't set one in a while. Grrrr.