City of Fredericton will not Reveal Total Cost in Unsuccessful Criminal Investigation of Blogger Charles Leblanc

A Request to Information was filed to the City of Fredericton to find out the total cost to the taxpayer for the city of Fredericton cival suit file by Mr. Leblan and the Fredericton City Police because Charles Leblanc has questioned their authority. There is, however, some questions about the actual amount that the city provided in their response to the request to information. One the invoice from the law firm of McInnis Cooper. Given the hundred plus pages of documents that the firm prepared. 1,097.23$ seem very low relative to the time they spent on the persecution of Mr Leblanc. For the average person to take a simple case to court for example impaired driving is a minimum of 1,800$.

Charles defence in the assault charge with Mr Spence, the legal fees were over 4,300$. Something doesn’t add up. When you look at the complexity of the City/Police investigation compared to the complexity of the assault case much more time was spent on the police and cities case then the lawyer spent on Charles’ Case.

Request for information for cost

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Reply from the City to Charles’ request for information regarding costs

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Fredericton City Police Beating a Dead Horse With the Arrest Of Charles Leblanc

By André Faust

Five years has passed since the Crown withdrew the charge of defamatory libel after the Fredericton City Police were heavily criticized by the legal academic community and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Following the withdrawal of the charge. the City of Fredericton Commissioned Bernard Richards  to assess the situation with the  Fredericton city police.  The result of his findings was that he made seven recommendations.   these were only recommendations and  the police were not bound to implement those recommendations.

The Fredericton Police Force by voluntarily accepting those recommendations appeared to be a progressive force and that they were opened to improving the quality of the policing in the city of Fredericton

However, when they charged Charles with assault, which stemmed from  a minor disagreement with Busker Andrew Spencer, they took this incident as an opportunity to try to have Charles Convicted.  That endeavour failed when provincial court judge Julian Dickson exonerated Charles by rendering a verdict of not guilty of assault.

Once again they are trying to have Charles prosecuted on a charge of defamatory Libel which was resolved five years ago.

Isn’t it about time that Fredericton City Police stops beating a dead horse and go back to do the things that they do best; to serve and to protect.

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Statement from Chief Leanne Fitch – Suspended Officers

Fredericton Police Chief Leanne Fitch

It’s not with pleasure that we are here today however my message to our community is vitally important and so I do appreciate your fair coverage of the issues I will be speaking to you about this morning.

Let me begin by stating that there is a shared feeling of disappointment within my management team, my police officers and my civilian staff concerning the suspension of five officers and most recent events that have transpired. We know these affect the public reputation of the Fredericton Police Force and the morale of those working in the department. I also know that this feeling of disappointment is present in our community. It is my responsibility as your Chief of Police to be honest and transparent, as we seek to uphold the public’s trust as police officers serving the capital City. We will not shirk away from this responsibility.

I would like to address the most recent arrest of an off-duty officer during Sunday night’s call for service. The officers that responded to the motor vehicle accident that evening acted responsibly and with the utmost professionalism. I am not at liberty to discuss too much about the sequence of events as the matter will soon be before the criminal courts and it would be irresponsible for me to say anything that would prejudice a fair trial. I can say however that from the onset of the investigation the responding officers knew that the suspect involved was an off duty member and this fact did not deter them from doing a thorough and responsible investigation that led to the arrest of a peer. Despite having to arrest one of their own, they diligently and honestly went about their duties, did the right thing because it was the right thing to do, and for all the right reasons. In this I draw tremendous strength and confidence knowing that our officers are committed to keeping our city safe and do so without fear, favor or prejudice. The outcome of this latest event will now be determined through the Criminal Courts and through the NB Police Act Code of Conduct.

Social Activist’s Blog Removed by Google following complaint

By André Faust

Political/Social Activist Charles Leblanc’s Blog shut down

Upon receiving a complaint against controversial social political activist Charles LeBlanc blog, Google removed the polemical blog from its servers after notifying the blogger of their action.

The blog was an irritant to the Fredericton city police and Sergeant at Arms Daniel Bussières because of his sometimes not to kind criticisms of their actions. Above and beyond criticizing the FPD and Bussières, LeBlanc confronted and challenged the provincial MLAs and the Premier on many delicate issues that mainstream media does not cover.

While the blog has been the center of controversy for quite some time, it appears very convenient to have the blog shut down prior to the provincial election. Was the motive behind the complaint to Google politically motivated to keep the issues of pensions fracturing and forestry from being presented to the New Brunswick audience? Blogs like Charles’s blog are a threat to government and big business because their propagandist no longer have control over the message given to the public.

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