Staff of the Port Alberni Shelter Society faced baseless accusations which were subject of a B.C. Supreme Court case. (Facebook/PASS)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

lawsuit

More than $300K awarded in damages after campaign of hate against Port Alberni shelter space

Jul 30, 2021 | 4:08 PM

PORT ALBERNI — Staff at Port Alberni’s homeless shelter were awarded more than $300,000 in damages after accusations they manufactured the homelessness and opioid crises for profit and covered up deaths.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge awarded $125,000 to both Wesley Hewitt and John Douglas, as well as $75,000 to the Port Alberni Shelter Society in damages.

They were at the centre of a campaign of “false and inflammatory statements” from Graham Hughes, executive director of the Alberni Literacy Society, according to court documents.

Starting in August, 2020, Hughes sent many emails to Hewitt and Douglas accusing them of fraud, reporting false statistics and “manufacturing the homelessness, opioid and mental health crisis in [the] community.”

Hughes said they were “the cancer in our community and you need to be cut out.”

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The private emails quickly became public when Hughes emailed the RCMP on Aug. 17 with his claims, all from his Literacy Alberni email where he identified himself as its executive director.

By October, 2020 Hughes made a change.org petition calling for an investigation into Hewitt and Douglas. The currently active petition garnered 559 signatures, short of its goal of 1,000.

Hughes also led a protest outside the Port Alberni shelter, which eventually grew to encompass a tent encampment for several months.

When given a cease-and-desist letter from Hewitt and Douglas, Hughes emailed back “I want to be before a judge. I tried to get arrested so we could be. Sue me for it. Honestly, please do.”

The Supreme Court of B.C. order from July 20 required Hughes to remove all of his many internet postings which were found to be defamatory.

Since Hughes used his work email during his flame war against Hewitt and Douglas, the Alberni Literacy Society is held vicariously liable for the damages, meaning they’ll have to pay what Hughes cannot.

The months long campaign did lead to a third-party review of the Port Alberni Shelter Society by BC Housing, which identified 10 key recommendations in a report published in March.

This included creating an alternate shelter focused on mental health and substance supports, reviewing eviction procedures and requiring more in-depth training for staff.

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