‘Attorney General Procureure générale Mint Sot Sung tice metry Seat m 1 Bay Seat ‘a0, bay Tin tor age ‘ron ON Mra 280 Toni ON MPA 280 Tar miescee Ta e-s2000 Fax: 416-326-4016 Télée.: 416-326-4016 Our Reference #: MC-2015-1254 March 25, 2015 Ms. Esther Wrightman E-mail: estherwrightman@hotmail.com Dear Ms. Wrightman: Thank you for your e-mail regarding Bill 52, the Protection of Public Participation Act, regarding your support for this initiative. The government considers the bill a made-in-Ontario balanced solution to the problem of strategic litigation about expression on matters of public interest. It is designed to address unmeritorious suits early but it preserves the rights of people to defend their reputation when the harm outweighs the value of the expression in a particular case. You express concern that Bill 52, as introduced, will apply only to litigation begun after its introduction, ic. December 1, 2014. The government changed the application provision from the predecessor legislation (Bill 83) on the principle that it was fair to people who started litigation to have recourse to the rules in force at the time the lawsuit was initiated, rather than have the rules change after that time. If you continue to prefer the older provision, you may wish to make submissions to the Legislative Committee that will likely be asked to consider the bill once it has passed Second Reading. To appear before a Committee, you may contact the Clerk of the Committee and request a time to make submissions. You may also make submissions in writing. I have asked John Gregory, General Counsel in the Ministry, to let you know when a decision has been made about which Committee will consider the bill. I appreci te your thoughtful support of the bill. Thank you again for writing. Sincerely, Mo UL Madeleine Meilleur Attorney General c: John Gregory, Justice Policy Development Branch