What's the Trigger?
Insurance Before Justice
The timeline is short. The story is long. But the system—Canada’s legal system—is caught, not by allegation, but by its own hand.
Let’s begin with the only thing they’ve done.
On May 23, I received an extortion letter from Stillman LLP, signed by Jessie Bakker, issued under the direction of Hassin Sam Mraiche. It demanded that I:
- Remove constitutionally protected political writing
- Hand over private financial records
- Disclose privileged communication involving a third party, Nate Pike
It was not a pleading. Not a notice of claim. It was an email. A weapon on letterhead. And when that letter failed to move me, it was backed by institutional weight.
No lawsuit was filed. No evidence was presented. But one thing did move: the Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association (ALIA). And what they moved to do, they did without pause, restraint, or lawful obligation.
May 27, 2025: ALIA created File No. 2025 0870—a formal insurance claim. Not for me, the threatened party. Not for the public interest. But with Gregory Bentz, Claimant, the signatory from Stillman LLP.
Stillman filed nothing in court. But ALIA filed protection for their firm.
This isn’t insurance. It’s coordination.
The Path So Far
Let’s walk through what has already happened:
- February 2025: I published “No Money, No Power,” an analysis of how empire operates through public contracts, regulatory blind spots, and legal intimidation.
- May 23: Stillman LLP sent a coercive letter. No claim. No court. Just raw leverage.
- May 24: I responded with a refusal—and began documenting every actor, every letter, every silence.
- May 25: I issued a settlement offer. A real one. Transparent. Fair. Delivered directly.
- May 26: I filed a formal misconduct complaint to the Law Society of Alberta, detailing the attempt to weaponise process against protected expression.
- May 27: ALIA initiated a claims file—protecting Stillman from imagined consequences of the threat they themselves issued.
- May 28: I requested federal oversight from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, outlining jurisdictional contradictions between regulator and insurer.
- May 29: This morning I sent Jessie Bakker the following letter—reminding her of her threat, the silence since, and the consequences to come:
May 28, 2025
Stillman LLP
Subject: Silence?
Jessie,
Since your letter dated May 23, 2025, demanding the suppression of Charter-protected political speech and the disclosure of private financial and third-party communications, you have offered no clarification, no correction, and no withdrawal.
The only action taken by your firm, Stillman LLP, has been the pre-emptive activation of an insurance claim—naming Gregory Bentz as a “claimant”—to secure indemnity before any formal proceedings, admission of fault, or request for defence. That is your firm’s sole institutional reply.
I continue to await your client’s response to the settlement offer.
My patience is infinite. But I do not wait well.
You stated clearly that legal consequences would follow my refusal to comply. So I ask you now—plainly and publicly—as I ask all those professionals and academics observing:
Is there an appropriate interval after a letter of coercion for a lawyer to follow up?
The hour approaches.
Ben Beveridge | Proconsul
This is not posturing. It is documentation.
These are the parties formally copied on the reminder email:
Jessie Bakker <jbakker@stillmanllp.com>
<mcu@justice.gc.ca>
<media@bond.edu.au>
<lawdean@ucalgary.ca>
<media@justice.gc.ca>
<claims7@alia.ca>
<tbf.insurance@gov.ab.ca>
<kristy.nease@cbc.ca>
<sfluker@ucalgary.ca>
<info@alia.ca>
<info@flsc.ca>
<intake@lawsociety.ab.ca>
<national@cba.org>
<gbentz@stillmanllp.com>
<deanoflaw@ualberta.ca>
<stephanie.hurley@dal.ca>
<rachelelizabethgilmore@gmail.com>
<gdoyle@flsc.ca>
Why This Matters
Every legal actor—Stillman, ALIA, the Law Society—has failed the basic test of jurisdiction, ethics, and duty. But the pattern is clearer than the precedent:
- The Law Society of Alberta says it does not regulate law firms—only individual lawyers.
- ALIA provides insurance—but only responds when those firms are threatened, not the public.
- Stillman LLP uses its insurance protection as leverage, without entering the court.
- Every institution involved moved—not when the law was broken—but when revenue was at risk.
Stillman LLP’s threats were never about justice. They were a pressure tactic—intended to silence commentary, destabilise me financially, and gain leverage over Nate Pike through me.
ALIA’s response? Activate indemnity coverage. Not for the plaintiff. For the predator.
To every professional and academic that read Jessie’s letter and did not react with the same disgust that I did, and respond with the same actions that I did, please resign.
Your silence proves that the law can be bought, and weaponised, in Canada, with your full support.
I would be happy to provide an accredited doctoral program on the theory and practice of law in Canada, based on Stillman's correspondence and subsequent institutional actions, to any of the faculties of law who declined comment on this chain, whose students clearly need a refresher. I will waive my cost, and cover tuition, for any student wishing to take the program.
Structural Exposure
The federal Statement of Claim drafted this week makes these dynamics explicit. It asserts that legal institutions in Alberta—law firms, insurers, and regulators—do not act independently. They operate as one.
That claim names:
- Stillman LLP and all participating partners
- Hassin Sam Mraiche, the controlling actor
- The Law Society of Alberta, for failure to regulate
- ALIA, for funding constitutional suppression
It demands not just financial remedy, but structural reform: public trust oversight of abusive firms, regulatory intervention protocols, and constitutional compliance as a condition of indemnity.
The Real Stakes
This isn’t about me. It’s about the next person they threaten.
If I hadn’t had a platform, a process, and a lifetime of strategic clarity, they would have succeeded.
I wrote a book, unpublished, about how the legal system in Canada was weaponised and used to abuse myself, my family, and my business, for more than 30 years.
I know this shit, because every trick, delay, and cost causing bullshit action in the system of law, has been used against me, by bullshit lawyers.
In every action this week, at every step, all I am doing is mirroring the preceding action by the adverse party, and using it against them, better.
They don’t need a court to win.
They only need you to be afraid.
So today, the reminder to Jessie is more than a letter. It’s a public signal: the file exists, the process is live, and the strategy is in motion.
The insurance they filed? That’s their admission.
The silence that followed? That’s their collapse.
The case is Canada v. Stillman.
But the system is the defendant.
I am prepared to file. Counsel is awaiting my deposit.
Proconsul
ben@proconsul.ca
https://proconsul.ghost.io/
This is what I’m working on. Tell me what you think, I enjoy the conversation! Subscribe and follow the work in real time.
Thanks!
B
* I have to add here... that regardless of the outcome of any of this process, the work this week has been incredibly enlightening, fun, and interesting.
Jessie's letter on Friday was not expected, but it has delivered a wealth of opportunity.
...and thank you to all of the new supporters and subscribers. I very much appreciate you reading. I promise that it isn't always about legal... I just accepted a new position with the EU, so there will be some travel content in our future :)
Stillman LLP threatened me to delete political writing and give up private data. No suit filed. But ALIA filed an insurance claim—for the lawyer who signed it. Not defence. Not justice. Just protection. The system moved—but not for you.
PS -
They thought it was just a threat letter.
Delete your article. Give us private financials. Surrender another citizen’s name.
No lawsuit. No court. Just intimidation wrapped in legal letterhead.
Then came ALIA.
Not to investigate. Not to assess.
But to shield the firm—Stillman LLP—before a claim was even filed.
No one replied to my complaint. No one addressed the Charter breach. But the moment I sent a settlement offer?
They activated insurance.
Not for risk. Not for justice.
For defence—before the fight even began.
This isn’t a case anymore.
It’s a live demonstration of how Canada’s legal infrastructure is used not to protect rights—but to silence them.
Today’s update includes the full reminder to Jessie Bakker.
Because if you promise legal consequences and deliver silence, the system answers for you.
And I’m not going anywhere.
PPS - The moment I retain counsel for this, I’m going to have to listen to all of my lawyers telling me to shut up. But until then... I'm enjoying the words.