Help Esther Fight Back Against Defamation

My name is Esther Post, and I am a mother of two young children and a contract instructor of English at Carleton University, where I have been teaching for 18 years. It’s extremely difficult for me to do this, but I am asking for help for my legal expenses in a defamation lawsuit against Chelsea Hillier, a former People’s Party of Canada (PPC) candidate for the 2021 election, and the daughter of MPP Randy Hillier. Chelsea Hillier made a number of false allegations about me on a single night in November, resulting in her original Twitter account with almost 10K followers being permanently banned for repeated “targeted abuse and harassment” of me. A week after her ban, Chelsea Hillier created a second Twitter account, where she again tweeted multiple libellous statements about me. The court noted Chelsea Hillier in default for failing to provide a Statement of Defence in response to my Statement of Claim. My motion for default judgment is in June. I am experiencing extreme financial stress due to the costs incurred for this legal battle, so I am hoping for donations to help me. A much longer and more detailed explanation of what has transpired is below.

Detailed Explanation:

Chelsea Hillier was my former student back in 2007 when I was a graduate student, and we later became close friends. We were so close that I asked her to stand by my side at my wedding in 2014. In the summer of 2020, due to Chelsea’s anti-masking beliefs and opinions related to the Covid pandemic, our friendship ended, although we remained in contact on social media.

I have always been a vocal opponent of her father’s politics. During the spring of 2021, I regularly tweeted about his public statements regarding the Covid pandemic; I also began tweeting regularly about the policies of the PPC. Prior to the election in September 2021, Chelsea sent me a message on Twitter that she could not take my criticism of her party’s stances and she blocked me. In November 2021, I retweeted a thread concerned with what the original tweet described as the “accelerationist rhetoric” used by Randy Hillier and his group “No More Lockdowns.” Six days later, Chelsea unblocked me, and responding to my retweet, she threatened to harass me and my family if I didn’t stop criticizing her father. Then, as I received this notification, she began repeatedly tweeting about me and accusing me of committing horrific criminal acts.

Chelsea Hillier’s statements about me are malicious lies, and the dozens of libellous tweets accusing me of such vile crimes caused me an unbelievable amount of stress and anxiety that is impossible to quantify. I had several panic attacks as each tweet appeared, each worse than the previous. Twitter finally banned this account within days for “targeted abuse and harassment” of me, but her followers continued to retweet and repeat her false allegations and tweet disgusting things to me and my husband. A week later, Chelsea created a new Twitter account and continued posting about me. On her first day on this account, she again tweeted 14 libellous statements within two hours, repeating the same false allegations (accompanied by my private wedding photos), and the stress and anxiety were even more overwhelming because she now tagged my employer. This second experience of reading such horrible lies about me completely undid me. I was not able to effectively parent my children, write and record lectures, and keep up with emails from my undergraduate students.

I cannot begin to describe the effects of these false allegations upon my mental, physical, and emotional health, not only during those surreal two weeks in November, but still, to this day, 5 months later. My debilitating anxiety stems from both the unbelievable hurt, distress, and humiliation I experienced as a direct result of her and her followers’ tweets and from the financial costs of fighting back. As a contract instructor, I earn less than $40,000 annually. Chelsea herself pointed out in one of her many tweets that she knew I would never be able to afford to sue her, but I also knew that I could not let these defamatory tweets stand because the allegations are entirely false and are highly damaging to my professional and personal reputation. In December, I retained a lawyer, and Chelsea was served with a Notice of Libel.

The Notice of Libel informed Chelsea that I would be pursuing a claim against her if she did not remove the defamatory tweets and issue an apology and retraction within 10 days. Chelsea was then served with my Statement of Claim electronically in late December and personally served in early January, where again, each defamatory tweet was indicated. According to the Rules of Civil Procedure, she was given a certain amount of time to respond with a Statement of Defense. She never responded to this Claim, but acknowledged the lawsuit in subsequent tweets. In February 2022, the court noted Chelsea in default, and my hearing date for my Motion for Default Judgment has been set for June.

I certainly never imagined I would be pursuing a civil lawsuit against a former friend; I simply wanted those horrible tweets removed and for her to stop posting false allegations against me. Unfortunately, a civil suit was my only option. Weeks after my date for Default Judgment Motion was set in February 2022, Chelsea deleted the tweets, but of course, I had already incurred several thousand dollars in legal expenses. Moreover, the damage to my reputation has already been done, and she has continued to post about me. Beyond all that, it is still extremely important to me that she issues a public statement of retraction.

I have tried to avoid going this route, but I am at a point where I need to ask for donations to help pay for my legal fees. I have always taught my children to stand up to bullies, and I strongly feel that I must stand up to my defamer despite the financial burdens. It is unfathomable and completely unacceptable to me that any person can write such malicious and hurtful lies about another individual and publicize them for the entire world to see, but it’s even more concerning that a public political figure who is both the daughter of a prominent MPP and a former candidate for the PPC for the September 2021 election can falsely accuse a private citizen of such horrendous criminal offenses, simply because of my criticism of her politics. The libellous statements she made about me were clearly meant to intimidate me into silence regarding her father’s politics, and this, too, is neither acceptable nor legal.

As of today (Apr. 19), I have paid almost $4000 to my attorney and currently owe more than $3000; between now and the Default Judgment Motion in late June, I expect to incur an estimated minimum of $5000 in legal fees and disbursements. Even the smallest donations will add up, and I humbly thank you all in advance. Should I meet my goal, any money not needed to pay my attorney will be donated to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre.

With profound gratitude,

Esther Post