Farmers for Justice activists Dan Creighton and Gerald Blerot have been permanently banned from acting as legal counsel for border-running farmers in Manitoba courtrooms.
A Court of Queens Bench justice granted the injunction Jan. 7, prohibiting Creighton or Blerot from acting as counsel in any Manitoba proceeding.
Deborah McCawley, who initiated the injunction on behalf of the Law Society of Manitoba, said in an interview the court agreed Creighton and Blerot were practising law without training or a licence.
“It puts the public at risk and the law society had a legal obligation to act,” said McCawley, chief executive officer for the society.
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Canadian law allows an individual who is not a lawyer to appear for an accused person in summary conviction matters.
“They went way beyond that,” McCawley said, adding the two were giving legal advice.
“They were doing what a lawyer does and doing it badly.”
Summary offences are generally less serious than indictable offences, carry lesser maximum penalties and are tried by provincial court judges.
In an interview, Creighton, who did not appear in court to defend himself against the injunction, called the ruling nonsense.
“They’ve got an order saying I cannot act as a barrister or solicitor in any proceedings in Manitoba and that’s fine,” he said. “I’ve never done that and I know I can’t do that.”
He said the order is an attempt to take away the rights of accused people who want Creighton’s help.
“Until someone tells me I can’t be an agent I will continue,” he said. “Parliament authorized that right for a summary proceeding.”
McCawley said court heard how a Manitoba judge warned Creighton if he proceeded with the argument he was making, the judge would increase the amount of restitution the client would have to pay.
He persisted, and the client had to pay an additional $2,000, she said.
Creighton said he remembers that case, but maintains his client told him to make the argument against Creighton’s advice.
