An Abbotsford inmate who is serving a life sentence for killing a teen he kidnapped in 1986 has filed 70 lawsuits over the years, including against the family of his victim.
Now, a judge has labelled John Mark Lee Jr. a “vexatious litigant” and has prohibited him from starting or continuing any litigation in B.C. provincial court without a court order.
The decision was made April 10 in Abbotsford and posted Wednesday (April 22) online in relation to Lee’s latest lawsuit.
Lee was previously declared a vexatious litigant in Alberta and the Federal Court of Canada.
He is currently serving time at the Pacific Institution/Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford for killing 16-year-old William Patrick MacLeod in Kingston, Ont., and was previously imprisoned in Ontario and Alberta.
Lee’s latest lawsuit was filed against Tia Powell, a Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) employee at Pacific Institution.
Court documents state that Lee was “acting as a jailhouse lawyer” for another inmate when he asked Powell to fax a 29-page document to a lawyer.
Powell refused to fax the document and told Lee that the other inmate could request to fax the document from his own institution, the ruling indicates.
Lee alleged that Powell had intentionally refused to fax the papers for “the sole purpose” of preventing him “from exercising an unchallengeable right to community with a legal counsel.”
He also claimed that she failed to fax the documents because he is Indigenous.
The court ruling states that, under the Legal Profession Act, Lee is prohibited from acting as a lawyer, and Powell acted correctly in refusing to fax the documents.
Judge Edna Ritchie dismissed Lee’s lawsuit against Powell, and admonished him for his “repetitive filing of unmeritorious applications that result in the needless expenditure of judicial resources and, in some cases, unnecessary expense to other parties.”
The court documents indicate that Lee has filed 13 actions in Alberta against CSC employees; at least 19 in the Federal Court, including a claim seeking $1.1 million after a deputy warden refused Lee’s idea of starting a food truck business within the institution; and at least 18 proceedings in Ontario, including against CSC employees for allegedly conspiring to have his parole denied.
Lee also filed a civil action against the family of the murder victim, claiming mental distress due to the family having made victim impact statements before the parole board.
In Abbotsford, Lee has begun 22 small-claims proceedings, according to the court documents.
Of those, 14 are against CSC employees and seven are against members of the Parole Board of Canada.
“Some of the wrongs alleged against CSC employees include failure to provide packing tape to Mr. Lee, failure to ensure that photocopies were not ‘too light,’ failure to obtain a postage meter, and failure to have an exhibit stamp,” the judge’s ruling states.
One of the Abbotsford filings was against a family member of the murder victim.
The papers were never served, and the judge said some of the contents of the civil claim were so “heinous” that she ordered the file be sealed with directions that it cannot be unsealed without a judge’s order.
The court ruling indicates that as of September 2024, Lee owed almost $49,000 in costs awarded to the Crown.
The judge said, based on Lee’s filings in Abbotsford alone, “there is no doubt” that he is a vexatious litigant.
Although she said she cannot completely sever Lee’s access to the courts, restrictions are needed. Now, any litigation application from him will only be accepted for filing if he is represented by a “member in good standing” of the Law Society of B.C.