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Vexatious Prince

A man who claims to be “god” takes the city, the province and the queen to court
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A Supreme Court of B.C. judge in Prince Rupert deemed a homeless man a vexatious litigant in April after claiming he owns all the land in the province. Joseph Jack photo A Supreme Court of B.C. judge in Prince Rupert deemed a homeless man a vexatious litigant in April after claiming he owns all the land in the province.

A self-proclaimed “god” took the City of Prince Rupert to court, and lost.

The question is, how could a man who claims to be God and a Prince doing justice on behalf of all Indigenous Peoples and Muslims take the city, the province and the Queen to court?

It’s not so miraculous as it seems.

Anyone can draft his or her own documents, file in the court registry, the fees may even be waived if he or she applies for indigent status, then he or she serves the documents to the defendants and either represents himself or herself on the day of the trial or hires a lawyer.

In the case of Sterritt v. Canada what we do know is that a 74-year-old who identifies as Chief Kitsilano, or God, was able to cost the city $46,214 in legal fees for one court case. However, this is just one bill, and doesn’t include what M’Akola or the province had to pay for this trial, never mind the court fees for the process.

Thousands spent to defend against a man who has been making the same divine claim to land in multiple court cases for the past 22 years in different municipalities — and in Prince Rupert in 2002.

But where do you draw the line?

Last week, a woman in Toronto was declared a vexatious litigant for suing at least 30 people and organizations since 2011, and she had also been representing herself in court.

Anyone with enough time and legal discernment could accomplish a similar feat, that is until the court decides enough is enough and throws the case out.

Unfortunately, by then it’s the taxpayer who ultimately bears the burden of these frivolous lawsuits against the city and country.