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ARTICLE · 15 SEPTEMBER 2020

Fence Dispute Leads To $70,000 Defamation Judgment

Gardiner Roberts LLP
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A dispute between two neighbours over a fence led to a $70,000 judgment against an online activist who posted defamatory comments about one of the neighbours: Duncan v. Buckles, 2020 ONSC 3219 (CanLII).

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
James R.G. Cook
James R.G. Cook
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A dispute between two neighbours over a fence led to a $70,000 judgment against an online activist who posted defamatory comments about one of the neighbours: Duncan v. Buckles, 2020 ONSC 3219 (CanLII).

The Plaintiff, Duncan, bought a house in Aurora, Ontario, and built a fence on her side of her property line with a gate to enclose the yard for her puppy. Duncan's neighbour Buckles objected to the fence as being too high and too close to her house, which was only eight inches from Buckles' side of the property line. The Town inspected the fence, required that some of the posts be lowered, but otherwise found no by-law infractions.

This led to a series of social media postings by Buckles about Duncan and the fence dispute. To assist with this strategy, Buckles engaged the Defendant, Lepp, a self-described "Trusted Street View Photographer and Municipal Activist." Lepp embarked on an internet media campaign consisting of blog postings, petitions, emails and YouTube

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