Trial begins in university professor's defamation lawsuit against Ezra Levant

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Ezra Levant is accused of making defamatory statements against Farhan Chak, a former Liberal Party of Canada candidate in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont.

A university professor and former Liberal Party candidate’s defamation lawsuit against pundit Ezra Levant has made it to court six years after it was filed.

(LIBEL HAS A SEVEN YEAR LIMIT FOR TRIAL) 

On Monday, Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard heard opening arguments in the case of Farhan Chak, who launched a lawsuit against Levant in 2015 over comments Levant made on his Sun News Network program.

According to Chak’s statement of claim, Levant alleged during his Feb. 25, 2014, broadcast that Chak was involved in a shooting at an Edmonton nightclub in 1993, when Chak was 19.

Chak was acquitted of the 1993 charges in what he called “a case of mistaken identity.” He vehemently denied any involvement in the shooting, saying he was at his parents’ home with friends and had “absolutely no knowledge of what transpired.”

For reasons that remain under dispute, neither the plaintiffs or the defendants were able to obtain a transcript of the 1993 trial.

Chak won the Liberal nomination in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont under Stéphane Dion in 2007 but eventually withdrew his candidacy amid controversy stemming in part from the charges.

Levant is now the head of Rebel Media, while Chak is a professor at Qatar University with a doctorate in political science.

A file photo of Farhan Chak, when he was 

a Liberal candidate in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont.

Levant made the allegation as part of a monologue about human rights commissions (Chak’s brother was a lawyer at the time for the Alberta Human Rights Commission.)

Leonard is expected to hear from six witnesses, the majority of whom will be called by the defence. The bulk of Monday’s hearing was testimony from Chak, who appeared by video from Qatar.

Chak lived much of his life in Edmonton, the son of refugees from Jammu and Kashmir.

He said Levant’s statements had a “devastating” effect, including on his health and his career prospects.

Chak’s lawyer, Imran Qureshi, said his client was never given an opportunity to respond, and that Levant’s statements were “at best reckless and at worst malicious.”

“This was not by accident,” Qureshi said. “The very purpose of the broadcast and the defamatory statement was to villainize Dr. Chak.”

Chak’s 2015 statement of claim seeks $1 million in damages.

Levant’s lawyer, Barry Zalmanowitz, cross-examined Chak on his memories from the 1994 trial. 

ZALMANOWITZ IS THE TOP LIBEL LAWYER IN THE PROVINCE. THE SUN IS A CLIENT

Levant’s statement of defence argues that the statements were “substantially true.” He also claims the defences of fair comment, qualified privilege and responsible communication on a matter of public interest.

BOILER PLATE DEFENSE

Other defendants in the case include Sun News, Sun Media Corp. and Quebecor Media Inc.

Postmedia, this newspaper’s parent company, purchased Sun Media’s English language newspapers in 2015.

The trial is scheduled to run four days.

EZRA HAS BEEN TRIED 

BEFORE FOR LIBEL

IT DID NOT GO SO WELL

EZRA LEVANT ATTACKS HIS OLD EMPLOYER CBC OVER UKRAINIAN AIRLINER EXPLOSION

EZRA LIES DEPT.

From Twitter

Ezra Levant 🍁verified_user

ezralevant

CBC's website still has not reported the news that Iran shot down the plane, killing 63 Canadians. They're still treating it like an innocent crash. Maybe Trudeau's state broadcaster is waiting for the official Liberal talking points. They'll be waiting a while. https://t.co/gLGe2Y0QEL

Twitter10:39 a.m.

BUT IT IS NOT TRUE CAUSE HERE IS THE SCREEN SHOT FROM THE CBC WEBSITE EZRA TAGS. 

Joey Zanfino
@BoxofgradeAs 
29m
Replying to 
@ezralevant

It's actually right there on their website, but keep up your narrative.

Dave Wilken

@DaveWilken1

·

19m

Replying to

@ezralevant

But they did before your tweet Ezra. https://twitter.com/cbcalerts/status/1215325195222896640?s=21…

Quote Tweet

CBC News Alerts

@CBCAlerts

· 36m

BREAKING: U.S. officials have shared intelligence with Canada to back up the view that Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 152 was brought down by an Iranian missile, sources tell CBC News.

Show this thread

Ezra Levant loses libel case, must pay $80,000 to man he defamed as ‘illiberal Islamic fascist’

In his blogging about Canada’s hate speech laws, right-wing pundit Levant defamed a young law student as a serial liar, a bigot and a Jew-hater, a judge has found

Matthew Sherwood for National Post

Joseph Brean
November 27, 2014

In his blogging about Canada’s hate speech laws, right-wing personality Ezra Levant defamed a young law student as a serial liar, a bigot and a Jew-hating “illiberal Islamic fascist,” bent on destroying Canada’s tradition of free expression, a judge has found.

For these unfair, false and “extremely serious” written comments, which were motivated by “ill will,” and showed a “reckless disregard for the truth,” Mr. Levant must pay Khurrum Awan $80,000, Judge Wendy Matheson of Ontario Superior Court ruled Thursday.

Mr. Awan is now a lawyer in Saskatchewan, but in 2007 he was the public face of a campaign to protest the representation of Muslims in

Maclean’s magazine. This led to three failed human rights complaints and spurred Canada’s first online culture war over the hate speech section of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

That law has since been repealed by the Harper government and this case was one of the last loose ends in the broader conflict. As a total victory for Mr. Awan, it represents the revenge of the “sock puppet.”

This was the condescending nickname Mr. Levant and others used for him on the theory the law student was being manipulated in his anti-Islamophobia advocacy by Mohamed Elmasry, former head of the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), who had earlier torpedoed his own credibility with inflammatory comments about the Mideast conflict on a television talk show.

But Mr. Awan did not have as close a relationship with Mr. Elmasry as Mr. Levant repeatedly claimed, nor did he share his controversial views, Judge Matheson found.

As she put it, “Much of what [Mr. Levant] wanted to talk about at trial related more to Dr. Elmasry than to [Mr. Awan].”

She ruled there is “ample evidence before me demonstrating express malice on the part of [Mr. Levant],” especially the fact he “did little or no fact-checking regarding the posts complained of, either before or after their publication.”

“I find that [Mr. Levant’s] dominant motive in these blog posts was ill will, and that his repeated failure to take even basic steps to check his facts showed a reckless disregard for the truth.”

Mr. Levant “ought to have been aware of the serious ramifications of his words on the reputation of this law student. Yet, at trial, he repeatedly tried to minimize his mistakes and his lack of diligence.”

The judge rejected the argument of Iain MacKinnon, Mr. Levant’s lawyer, readers of his blog would not take his comments “at face value” because they would be “well aware of Mr. Levant’s penchant to stir controversy and make outlandish comments.”

She ordered Mr. Levant to remove the posts from his website within 15 days — they have been posted there for years — and pay Mr. Awan $50,000 in general damages plus $30,000 in aggravated damages.

“Mr. Awan is very pleased with the decision and is grateful that at long last he has been vindicated,” said his lawyer, Brian Shiller.
‘I find that [Mr. Levant’s] dominant motive in these blog posts was ill will, and that his repeated failure to take even basic steps to check his facts showed a reckless disregard for the truth’

Responding to the ruling, Mr. Levant called it “very troubling” and said he felt compelled to appeal.

“This is a shocking case of libel chill that should concern any Canadian who is worried about radical Islam, and the right to call out anti-Semitism in the public square,” he said in an email.

“If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will be open season on anyone who campaigns against anti-Semitism. It is a national gag order, which has the effect of silencing and punishing critics of anti-Semitism.”

The roots of Mr. Awan’s case go back to the early days of the vicious debate over Section 13, the hate speech clause of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

That debate began in 2007, when Maclean’s magazine published an excerpt from Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone, entitled “The Future Belongs To Islam.”

Offended by the article, Mr. Awan and three fellow law students complained to the magazine about its depiction of Muslims as a threat to the West and cited several other articles in Maclean’s on the same theme.

‘If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will be open season on anyone who campaigns against anti-Semitism. It is a national gag order’

Initially, they sought space for a rebuttal, but when that failed, they filed a human rights hate speech complaint in Ontario. Others followed federally and in British Columbia, brought by the Canadian Islamic Congress.

Judge Matheson describes the law students as “naive,” and said their meeting with Maclean’s executives represented a “significant failure of communication.”

“Ironically, while their original objective was in furtherance of freedom of expression, their perceived attack on the article and the venerated Maclean’s magazine resulted in their portrayal as attacking that very freedom,” Judge Matheson wrote.

The failure of the hate speech complaint became the primary example for the argument human rights tribunals had run amok as would-be censors. The fiasco was a key motivation for the government’s repeal of Section 13, the federal Internet hate law.

This massive national pivot on hate laws, which leaves criminal prosecution as the only legal response to hate speech, was in response to a blog-based campaign led by Mr. Levant, and marked a flip-flop for the federal Conservatives, who had supported Section 13.

National Post

Ezra's Petard

Well it looks like the defunct Western Standard, which is now only a blog online, has been hoisted by its own petard.

Western Standard's apology averts Islamic protest
Canada.com -
CALGARY -- A protest planned for Friday afternoon in Calgary to condemn alleged violent and racist postings has been cancelled after an apology from the Western Standard magazine.
Islamic group drops complaints against local mag Canoe.ca
Magazine apologizes for 'hateful' blog comments CBC.ca

The problem is that former publisher and now guest commentator Ezra Levant's Anti-Muslim rants encourage intolerance and hate speech as being so called freedom of speech in opposition to political correctness.

He no longer is publisher of the Western Standard, he no longer has a column with the Calgary Sun. But he seems to have gotten a job as commentator on Mike Duffy. Guess CTV is trying to keep up with CBC.

Ezra is a provocateur and nothing else. He comments to inflame. And then his followers use his excess's to justify their ignorant racist outbursts. Ezra is the problem, as much as those who comment on his rants.


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Shotgun Blog, Western Standard

One Free World

I came across this media post from Jason Kenney's office;

The Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity), will speak tomorrow at the One Free World International Conference in Winnipeg.

"Our government is committed to supporting the values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights," said Secretary of State Kenney. "This conference reminds us that pluralism is a part of Canadian identity."

One Free World International is a human rights organization based in Toronto that focuses on the rights of religious minorities around the world and promotes tolerance, understanding, and respect for diverse religious beliefs. It is dedicated to assisting through awareness campaigns, seminars, and active human rights programs.

Kenney of course is in his new position as "Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity" (formerly he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister for Multiculturalism) in order to gain support for his party in ethnic and immigrant communities.

Communities that in the past have been the base for the Liberal party. The Conservatives quickly applied the politics of opportunism when they picked up the ball the Liberals dropped when it came to dealing with the Chinese Head Tax.

Choosing Kenney for this post is ironic considering that he views Canada through Republican glasses.

The addition of Canadian Identity to the former Multi-Culturalism Secretariat is conservative code for the end of the Liberal endorsed notion of multiculturalism, including the idea of bilingualism and bi-culturalism. Instead the Conservatives endorse the idea of two solitudes. And the rest of us can assume one of two national identities; English or French Canadian.

Contrary to the apparently benign and laudable goal of international human rights and religious freedom for 'diverse religious beliefs' the One Free World religious sect that he addressed are only interested in the oppression of Christians in Muslim countries. They throw in communist countries as an after thought. When they use the term 'Anti-Semitism' it means Islam.

This is an Anti-Muslim sect that Ezra Levant would feel comfortable addressing. The fact that the Conservative Government lends them any credence shows that Muslim bashing is now part of their New 'Canadian Identity'. As was clearly shown by their political red herring; veiled voting.

WINNIPEG – “A lot of people don’t know this, but there is one Christian being persecuted every three minutes, worldwide,” said Rev. Majed El Shafie, president and founder of One Free World International (OFWI) El Shafie Ministries. “Even in Canada, antisemitism has risen by 61 per cent.”

“We’ve helped people, case by case, who are being persecuted,” said El Shafie. OFWI works to help people in at least 13 countries around the world, “mostly in Muslim and African countries, and China and North Korea – Muslim and Communist countries.”

From Nov. 2-4, OFWI is hosting a conference in Winnipeg, on the Price of Freedom. It will be at the Eternity Centre (1111 Chevrier Blvd.), is open to the public, and is free of charge (donations will be accepted).

The main focus of the conference will be “about the persecution happening around the world,” said El Shafie.

The next film El Shafie is working on is about Afghanistan.

He said, “I sat down with Afghani officials and asked them about the Jewish and Christian communities there. They looked right at me and said ‘there are none.’ It is pure lies.

El Shafie said “the [Hamid] Karzai government is corrupt, and Karzai is one of the biggest snakes I’ve ever met. The only way we should be dealing with him is if he starts improving conditions for the people.”

One Free World International | El Shafie Ministries

Our primary focus is on combating the persecution of Christians and anti-semitism and we assist all those whose religious freedom is threatened, regardless of their beliefs. OFWI is based on and guided in its work by Christian principles. It does not endorse the religious beliefs of those on behalf of whom it advocates, but is uncompromising about promoting their right to hold and exercise those beliefs. OFWI’s goal is a world in which people are free to choose, retain, change, and express their religious or non-religious belief system in accordance with their conscience, without fear and with full equality and dignity, while fully respecting the corresponding rights of others.

SEE:

A Union the Conservatives Like

Fraser Institute Racists

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Death Penalty For Whom

Over at that bastion of Free Speech the Western Slander's Shotgun Blog comes this example of right-whingnut wombat commentary about the death penalty and the Stephen Harper Party reversal of Canada's long standing policy on clemency for Canadians abroad.

The death penalty should be re-instated in Canada - and should include death for murderers, rapists, child molesters, and thieving Liberal Prime Ministers like Jean the Creton.

Posted by: obc | 2-Nov-07 12:50:36 PM

Pretty nasty....but hey that's free speech...you can call for the death of a former PM and know the Stat Polizia won't come knocking at your door.

I know it's an opinion from the far right....except the majority of the Slanders readers and writers happen to be on the far right.

And other than that, and this, not many musings from wombat nation. The Blogging Tories remain absent from the debate. Even Dr. Roy does not address the Harper decision when quoting from an American study on the joys of the death penalty.

Their silence is acquiescence to opinions of the grown ups.

H/T to Unrepentant Old Hippie for the link to the Shotgun Blog article.


See:

Another Tory For Capital Punishment

Conservative Columnist Opposes Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment Poll

Harpers Lethal Injection

The Return of Capital Punishment

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

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Vue Covers My CBC Campaign

Got an email from a reporter from Vue Weekly last week and did a phone interview with him about my Hey CBC Ezra Does Not Speak For Me campaign. Let a thousand flowers bloom as they say.

And in this week's edition they published this;

CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED AGAINST CBC RIGHT-WING 'FLACK'

MURRAY SINCLAIR / murray@vueweekly.com

Recall campaigns, in use in some US states, British Columbia and once in Alberta, are usually aimed at removing politicians from office between elections.
But one local activist has started a similar type of campaign online to get rid of a conservative pundit from a CBC Newsworld show.

Eugene Plawiuk told Vue it’s “extremely disrespectful” that Ezra Levant is used as Alberta’s representative by veteran broadcaster Don Newman for a cross-Canada regional panel on his afternoon Politics show.

“There’s a constant use of Ezra, as if he knows anything,” charged Plawiuk, a self-described “unabashed left-winger.”
“He doesn’t deserve to be on as a pundit from Alberta. It makes us look like right-wing nut bars.”

Levant, who has been a lawyer, columnist and an activist in conservative groups and parties, made the news recently when he stopped publishing his Western Standard magazine in favour of an online format.

Plawiuk said that Levant, who didn’t return repeated interview requests for this story, wrongfully believes that Albertans are “genetically” disposed against Liberals and for the Conservatives.

“Levant also deliberately refuses to make any reference to the NDP in this province, which happens to have four sitting MLAs, and has been a force in provincial and federal politics since the founding of the CCF in Calgary,” Plawiuk’s website charges.

In a past entry, he charged that the “Conservative Broadcasting Corporation,” when “reporting on news from Alberta for political comments ... is sucking up to the right wing rump of the right wing with Levant.

He “is not a journalist, but a public-relations flack for the right,” Plawiuk added.

In September, Plawiuk wrote to CBC ombudsman Vince Carlin that he’s “tired of the right-wing bias shown by Ezra Levant,” who he says does not reflect the reality of politics in Alberta.

“Get someone else to comment on Alberta politics, or at least balance him out with someone who is not part of the extreme right.”

Carlin replied that he forwarded Plawiuk’s concerns to the producer of Politics, but the activist answered back that nobody on the show was listening to him, as Levant kept on appearing as a talking head.

CBC spokesman Jeff Keay didn’t respond directly to Plawiuk’s campaign, but said generally “Don [Newman] has a broad range of people on the show.”

Jim Thompson of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting said his group hasn’t done any content analysis to determine whether the CBC is providing a diversity of voices. He said Alberta MPs, who are all Conservative, would likely say the CBC is left-wing, but he wouldn’t comment on whether the CBC was using Levant to battle this perspective.

Plawiuk said he “wouldn’t be as ticked” if Levant was appearing on a non-public network that wasn’t supported by tax dollars, an arrangement he noted the conservative pundit dislikes despite appearing regularly on the CBC.

The activist started his anti-Levant campaign in late October by sending out emails on the listservs of the NDP and other progressive groups, while his blog is linked to several other leftist and non-ideological websites.

He doesn’t know how many in cyberspace have heeded his request to email the CBC and ask for Levant’s removal as Newman’s only Alberta voice, but a number of people have told him they’ve done so, including one who created an online logo stating “Hey CBC, Ezra Levant does not speak for me!” for use in the campaign.

The activist denied that he’s advocating censorship, and said his campaign speaks to a bigger issue that goes beyond cyberspace.

Alberta is changing politically, said Plawiuk, citing the thousands of newcomers coming into the province, the decline of the Reform movement and the departure of conservative standard-bearer Ralph Klein from the premier’s chair.
“Nobody talks about the Ralph revolution anymore,” he said. “They talk about the Ralph failure.”

Plawiuk suggested in one email to the CBC that “there are other more ‘expert’ folks you could use, or at least to give balance and have on along with Ezra,” citing as examples local blogger Ken Chapman and the Parkland Institute’s Ricardo Acuña.

The activist told Vue that Edmonton Journal legislature reporter Graham Thompson or someone from the Calgary Herald or that city’s CBC would be acceptable in place of Levant, who he charged “blusters on with half-facts and innuendo.”

He said even Edmonton Sun columnist Neil Waugh would be a more insightful voice on the right, as would Link Byfield of the defunct Alberta Report magazine, given his long experience with the conservative cause..

Associating Levant with a “small voice from Calgary,” Plawiuk said there was a regional dimension to his campaign, charging that Newman’s show was turning down Edmonton voices in favour of what he called Canada’s most Americanized city.

Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesman Thompson said CBC cutbacks have gutted regional programming, which has “certainly affected the diversity of perspective that the CBC has been able to offer its audience” in his mind. V

Interesting that Friends of Canadian Broadcasting doesn't do content analysis. That's not what they say on their web site. And their actions say otherwise. However I guess what they don't do is look at specific programs. Though Don's show has slipped in some American spin which should concern them.

FRIENDS of Canadian Broadcasting is an independent, Canada-wide, non-partisan voluntary organization whose mission is to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming in the Canadian audio-visual system. FRIENDS is not affiliated with any broadcaster or political party.

FRIENDS relies upon individuals for donations to finance its watchdog role, public policy initiatives, public opinion leadership and research activities directed at our priorities.

Looks like CBC's top-ranked managers, specifically president and CEO Robert Rabinovitch and CBC-TV executive vice-president Richard Stursberg, have been stung by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

A fundraising letter sent recently to Friends' members – who number 66,000 dues-paying households – attacks the duo for their "incompetence, neglect and recklessness" and "appallingly deficient vision."

The spokesperson for CBC says Don has a broad representation from Alberta which of course is a lie. His regular, as in frequent, guest commentator on things Albertan is Ezra.

Keep sending those cards, letters, and emails to CBC. And please cc me at
eugene-at-union-dot-org-dot-za

See:

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