WINNIPEG—National animal law organization Animal Justice is asking the courts to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed earlier this year by a Manitoba horse exporter, in what may be the first opportunity for the courts to apply Manitoba’s Public Interest Expression Defence Act.
Passed in 2025, the law helps courts quickly dismiss Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs—lawsuits used to punish and silence people who speak out on matters of public interest. Manitoba’s anti-SLAPP law follows the lead of provinces such as Ontario and BC which have their own similar laws designed to promote open dialogue about matters of public interest.
Swan River-based Carolyle Farms Ltd. and its owner Lyle Lumax sued Animal Justice and the organization’s executive director, Camille Labchuk, over a statement she made in a video shared on social media.
In the clip, Ms. Labchuk said that at least three horses collapsed during a December 2022 shipment of 79 horses from Manitoba to Japan for slaughter—information derived from government records.
The video was filmed in the midst of a private prosecution Animal Justice had brought against Carolyle Farms, related to the December 2022 flight, alleging violations of federal animal transport regulations.
While the provincial court judge presiding over the trial acquitted the farm in March, Animal Justice has since filed an appeal of the decision, which is set to be heard later this year.
Animal Justice’s motion to dismiss, which was filed under the Public Interest Expression Defence Act, argues Carolyle and Lumax’s defamation lawsuit has no reasonable prospect of success and that the speech targeted relates to a matter of significant public interest. The motion asks the court to dismiss the claim, award Animal Justice damages and order the plaintiffs to pay costs.
A date for the hearing has yet to be scheduled.
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