'Off-grid' couples wage B.C. court battle as 'communal living' attempt ends in acrimony

It began as an experiment in communal living.

But an arrangement between two "off-grid" couples to buya central B.C. acreage and live together on it dissolved into an acrimonious court battle involvingaccusations of uncleanlinessand a heated disagreement over chicken butchering.

Following an 11-daytrial spread over months, a B.C. Supreme Court judge last week rejected a bid by one of the couples to sue the otherfor trespass and defamation related to a Facebook posting accusing their former partners of harassment.

Justice Marguerite Church foundCallandra Neustaterwas within her rights to respond to untrue posters spread around Quesnel, B.C.,accusing her and husband Jacob ofbeing "police informants" whoinfiltrated "activist, anarchist, Antifa, anti-pipeline and Indigenous rights groups."

Instead,Church concludedit was the Neustaters who had been defamed by posters that were eithercreatedby or at the direction of Michael McKerracher, who togetherwith his wife and musical partner Rachel started the court battle.

An 'off-the-grid'alternative lifestyle

The judge's lengthy ruling tells the story of two couples who purchased 17 hectaresof land together in the spring of 2016 in the hopes of starting a new life together in B.C. The Neustaters had been living in Manitoba and the McKerrachers had been living in Saskatchewan,a province they deemed too "conservative" for their "unconventional lifestyle."

They were both part of a communityof "like-minded individuals who promoted and lived an 'off-the-grid'alternative lifestyle," Church wrote.

According to the ruling, the Neustaters met the McKerrachers in 2015 when theytravelled together during a western tour by the McKerrachers' musical act The Grid-Pickers.

"Discussions between the four friends eventually turned to their shared wish to move to British Columbia and they began to discuss their similar interests and the possibility of communal living on jointly owned property," Church wrote.

They split the cost of a $65,000 property, chose sites for their respective homes and both women became pregnant. Callandra Neustaterengaged Rachel McKerracher's services as a doula.

"For a few months at least, life was good for the two families.Unfortunately, this state of affairs did not last and cracks soon began to appear in their friendship," the judgment says.

Church said the couples never put their expectations for communal living into writing.

And the two men began arguing.

Michael McKerracher felt"the Neustaters were being controlling by asking him to park his vehicles off the property, not to leave derelict vehicles, and complaining about him having gatherings on his own side and yard site," the judge wrote.

By contrast, Jacob Neustater felt that "McKerracher wanted things done 'his way'and would get upset if the Neustaters disagreed."

'If I find another chicken I tie it to a brick'

Tensions escalated in September 2017 when MichaelMcKerracherinvited friends to their home site for hisbirthday.

"As the birthday gathering was going on, the Neustaters were butchering chickens behind their home," Church wrote.

"McKerracher testified that he felt that this was passive aggressive behaviour by the Neustaters because they were not invited to the party."

The Neustaters claimed they butchered chickens for meat, something the two couples used to do together.They said they didn't realizeMcKerracher was having a party, or that his guests would want to go swimming in the river where they dumped the carcasses.

The incident resulted in an exchange of texts between the two men.

"If I find another chicken I tie it to a brick," McKerracher wrote at one point, calling Neustatera "wannabe Viking bush loser."

A 'ludicrous' offer

According to the judgment, the communal living arrangement came to an end in October 2017.

The Neustaters said they felt it was no longer safe for them to return to the property, so theyproposed splitting the acreage into two strips.

The McKerrachers rejected the proposal, sending an email stating their intention to coordinatea "community meeting" instead at which the Neustaters would "have to agree to abide by whatever outcome is decided, as will we."

They also later offered the Neustaters $15,000 for their share in the land an offer the Neustaterssaid was "ludicrous" as it was less than half what they paid a year earlier.

The judgment says Neustater received a text from McKerrachercalling him a "trespasser" and warning that"if you choose to ignore my messages and I see you in town or at the land, I WILL be violent towards you."

The '3rdAvenue Collective'

Shortly after, posters began appearing in downtown Quesnelwith pictures of the Neustaters under the headline "Police Informants."

Callandra Neustater responded on social media.

"The people posting these posters were our friends, we bought property together, we were raising our family together," she wrote.

"Due to these people's mental health issues and severe paranoia they have conjured elaborate stories about us and are encouraging people to harass and hurt us."

An anonymous, anarchist group calling itself the "3rdAvenue Collective" later claimed responsibility for the posters in an email, butthe judge found McKerracher"directly responsible" for their creation and distribution.

"While he may not have physically placed the posters around Quesnel, I find that they were distributed by others and posted to social media at his direction," Church wrote.

The judge said it was "arguable that the description of police informants is substantially true with respect" to Jacob Neustater sending a text to McKerracher threatening to call Child and Family Services andRCMPabout"your marijuana business and the illegal nature of your home"if anything happened to his family or home.

But she said it was "not, however substantially true" to say the Neustatersare "known to extort families by threatening Child and Family Services and RCMP unless money is paid."

As such, Church said Callandra Neustater'sFacebook plea was a "legitimate response to an attack" on her character.

The judge also rejected the claim for trespass against Neustater because of his ownership of half of the property, which gave him a legal right to come and go.

Although Church did find that Michael McKerracherhad defamed the Neustatersthrough the posters, the Neustaters were not seeking any damages.

McKerrachertold the CBCthe couple is weighing their options in regards to deciding whether to appeal.

He pointed to the judge saying"some of the evidence [she]heard at trial about the conduct of proceedings by former counsel for the defendants was indeed unfortunate and concerning."

"We believe that we were prejudiced, for sure," he said.

The property was eventually sold for $80,000in April 2021.