The Radical Who Weaponised Accountability to Wage a Campaign of Targeted Harassment in a Homophobic Smear Attack
the defamation case against Peter Scott Blackwell for his Cowards of Canada attack site
In a decision dated August 18, 2025, Justice K McVey has found Peter Scott Blackwell guilty of defamation and has awarded the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE) and eight individuals affiliated with the organisation as staff or volunteer board members a permanent injunction against the defendant in addition to damages.
When you search Google for Blackwell’s targeted harassment website, you can see his mission in the SEO description. “Personal Accountability is Back. Are you a Coward? Vote for Canada's Top Cowards. Check the current ratings and complaints.”
When I click through to the website a message about exposing truth greets me.
“At Cowards of Canada, we believe that exposing the truth is the first step towards positive change. Our mission is to shed light on the individuals who perpetuate dishonesty, hypocrisy, and incompetence in our nation. By uncovering the vile scumbags and highlighting their actions, we aim to inspire accountability, integrity, and progress. Join us in our fight against cowardice & let your voice be heard. It's time to improve Canada, one coward at a time.”
The website looks garish and bright, with a design featuring primary colours, clowns, and the rainbow. A background photo depicts two men in clown costumes kissing. Blackwell invites the public to participate by clicking of cowards’ names to vote. Each profiled person has a score, the higher the score the bigger the coward. The landing page shows a ranking scoreboard, with highest and most rated profiles. Andrew Brett has the highest score, followed by Colin Basran, David Lametti. Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh have the most ratings.
When I scroll to the middle of the page I’m welcomed to the Circus of Commons, and shown the definition of low-lifes, scumball, and sleazebag. Below that I see the gallery of the 30 latest cowards. On the right side of the screen I see a text box telling me about fearless exposure of truth and unwavering accountability and relentless dedication and commitment to unearthing dark secrets and shining a bright light on cowardly actions. I’m told about indisputable evidence, and about an irrefutable record, I’m told about reprehensible behaviour and a journey of justice. I’m told about history making and collective determination to bring certain individuals to justice. Words such as noble pursuit, quest, unwavering dedication, bravery triumphing over cowardice jump out and grab my attention.
Welcome to Cowards of Canada, a platform dedicated to fearlessly exposing the truth and ensuring unwavering accountability for individuals who engage in corrupt and deceitful practices. Our relentless dedication, combined with the power of our fellow citizens, has successfully held these individuals accountable for their cowardly behavior, leaving no room for them to hide from the consequences of their actions. We are committed to unearthing the dark secrets that plague our society and shining a bright spotlight on their cowardly actions.
At Cowards of Canada, we firmly believe in presenting indisputable evidence that stands as an irrefutable record, forever haunting the legacy of those who engage in such reprehensible behavior. Together, we embark on a journey towards justice, unraveling their webs of deception and ensuring that their cowardice is never forgotten. Our mission is to leave an indelible mark on history, a testament to our collective determination to bring these individuals to justice.
By joining Cowards of Canada, you become part of a movement that dares to challenge and expose the truth. You are not alone in calling out their cowardice; together, we make their true nature known, far and wide. It is official – their cowardice has been exposed, and we are here to ensure that the world knows the truth.
Our noble pursuit leaves no stone unturned in our quest for accountability. With our unwavering dedication and the support of our community, we will continue to uncover the truth, expose corruption, and shed light on those who perpetuate deceitful practices. Together, we stand strong in our commitment to creating a society where cowardice is met with the justice it deserves.
At Cowards of Canada, where bravery triumphs over cowardice, and the truth prevails. Join us as we shape the future, leaving a lasting impact on the course of history.
The site looks like the workings of an extreme and likely unhinged individual radicalised by hatred of LGB+ people. It remains live at the time of my writing this piece. It contains damning descriptions of various high profile Canadians, including the defamatory profiles of the plaintiffs listed in this case, Canadian Aids Treatment Information Exchange et al. v. Blackwell, (2025 ONSC 4678).
Blackwell began his campaign of targeted harassment in May 2023 with the launch of his defamatory site Cowards of Canada, Cowards[dot]ca. The defendant used his website in conjunction with an associated X account (still live and functioning as of the early afternoon of Saturday August 23, 2025) and a Facebook account (which no longer exists, based on my research) to wage his targeted harassment attacks against the plaintiffs.
A month later, “… in June 2023”, according to McVey’s decision, “the defendant left two derogatory, expletive-filled voicemail messages at CATIE's office, threatening to publish additional defamatory content about ‘every single last one’ of CATIE's staff, including the receptionist. The defendant called CATIE's staff members, ‘fucking child-grooming pedophiles’ and ‘dirty, dirty, rotten fucking child abusing pedophiles’ and stated that they all belonged in jail.” Justice McVey listened to the messages and describes them as “…vile, unhinged, and highly offensive.”
The defendant waged a targeted harassment campaign on X against “a subset of the plaintiffs” in the summer of 2023. When I search the Cowards of Canada X account I find no posts about CATIE or the plaintiffs.
In October 2023 Blackwell received a Notice of Libel from the plaintiffs. According to McVey’s judicial decision, “despite this, the defendant continued to harass Mr. Brett and CATIE through various posts on his X accounts. In one post, he suggested that he possessed material capable of exposing Mr. Brett as a pedophile and claimed the police would be investigating. He also referred to members of CATIE's staff as ‘worthless filthy garbage’ and ‘dirty fucks.’”
In February of 2024 the plaintiffs filed a complaint against the defendant for defamation, seeking general as well as aggravated damages. The plaintiffs could not locate Blackwell to formally serve him for several months and so their statement of claim took effect in August of 2024, validated by Justice McVey in January of this year. Blackwell has not responded and the court declared him in default as of January 20th. He did not show up nor did he appoint a representative for this case against him.
The Cowards of Canada (CoC) X account has 4K followers and remains active, having made a reply to a post as recently as August 16th. I reported the account and wonder who it remains active, in light of the defamation ruling. Perhaps we need more efficacious online reporting mechanisms to prevent the deleterious effects of psychological warfare and real life negative consequences related to online bullying and targeted harassment hate campaigns waged against individuals? The most recent targeted post by CoC, dated October 19, 2024, features Mike Bernier. As mentioned, I find no posts about CATIE, Andrew Brett or the other plaintiffs on the CoC X account. A search of “Andrew Brett” on X reveals an account called VoteCanadaCom (8.8K followers) that has a post targeting Brett and several other high profile Canadian politicians and activists other figures. VoteCanadaCom has a website called The Daily which links to a Buy Me A Coffee page. VoteCanadaCom—The Daily[dot]ca has recently commented on the outcome of the CATIE et al defamation case, complaining that the mainstream media “…don’t even want to tell the whole story.”
Of interest to readers —The lawyer representing the plaintiffs Douglas Judson launched a human rights complaint against the Ontario town of Emo for its refusal to mark Pride Month. The case raises questions about freedom of expression. Freedom has two prongs, freedom to and freedoms from. Does a small town which chooses against declaring a Pride Month really commit a human rights violation? That seems extreme and tantamount to bullying, to force a town to honour a thing against its will, and any municipality choosing not to hold a Pride Month takes no rights away from LGB+ people.
Judson also ran an ad on the Judson Howie website and on social media offering a $400 reward to anyone who could help him find the defendant in order to serve him a legal document related to the defamation case. The ad no longer appears on the Judson Howie website as far as I can see, and the firm has locked its X account so I’m unable to independently verify the screenshot of either the ad or the social media post which I found on X. The letter of service remains on the Judson Howie website at the time of this writing, and I’ve archived it here. Readers can see my source for the screenshots by searching “Peter Scott Blackwell” on X.
I have questions regarding serving Blackwell with the notice of proceeding. Who served that legal document? Did they have the required qualifications for process serving?
According to West Coast Process Serving, “many jurisdictions including British Columbia require that anyone serving papers must have a process server license, which is obtained only by fulfilling specific requirements which include demonstration of the appropriate educational background, screening, training and more. Individuals that have not received training and are not certified are not legally allowed to serve documents for the courts.”
Perhaps serving documents for a law firm differs from serving documents for the courts?
According to the BC Court rules of serving documents, individuals can serve the document or contract the services of a professional process server. Other sources indicate that no parties to the case can serve the document, ie a third party must do the process serving. Nonetheless it seems a bit Dawg the Bounty Hunter to offer a reward to anyone who could find and serve the guy.