‘Exceedingly political’ libel case pits free speech advocate Ezra Levant against ‘master of lawfare’
Pitting a Regina lawyer against a nationally known television personality who describes himself as “one of Canada’s premier advocates of free expression,” Khurrum Awan v. Ezra Levant is one of several defamation suits that arose from the fight over hate speech bans in human rights law.
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“It’s no surprise that Toronto’s most famous political lawyers — the firm of Clayton Ruby and Brian Shiller — are the lawyers on this file. They’re the ones who litigated political lawsuits against Rob Ford (to remove him from office, and a defamation suit too). They lost, but again … the process is the punishment. I note that their law firm has four other lawsuits pending against me. And Mr. Ruby’s daughter has been the leading opponent of the Sun News Network before the CRTC,” Mr. Levant wrote.
More from Ezra at the Toronto Sun.
In the U.S. somebody (with money for lawyers) who is a victim of such scorched earth ‘lawfare’ can sue the bastards back, under the legal doctrine of “tortious interference”.
Does the “tortious interference” concept exist in Canadian law? …. because the best defence against legal bullies is a grrrrrreat offense. Once you can get a crushing grip on your lawsuit-happy enemy’s b@ll$ he will then have an incentive to release his grip on yours.
They are obviously racist human rights abusers!
Will someone please stand up for Ezra, he can’t fight Canada’s tyrannical oportunistic left by himself forever.
Ahhh, Ruby Shiller. Also the law firm Kinsella runs to for help.
Brian Shiller is also a business partner in David Shillers firm.
David being in Kinsella’s “band”. Wonder if Kinsella will be in
Court to cheer on his fellow Sun colleague?? Guess not….
This time I donate to the Ezra relief fund.
The biased CBC is party to this attack on our friend Ezra. Buy a bumper sticker on ebay, and show your support:
http://tinyurl.com/l56qpls
I wanna buy a dozen or so of those stickers and stick them on the front of the CBC building next time I’m in Toronto. I’m sure that will get someone’s attention.
Bring back the Code Duello.
When it comes to FREEDOMS in Canader, I don’t consider Sir Isaac Brock a hero or celebrate our winning the battle of Lundy’s Lane.
I am going to Northern BC hunting soon and I just know I will run into another roving Police Blockade on one of our major North/South highways.
Questions such as; “where are we headed this morning”, or “are you carrying a gun” will be asked when I am stopped. My answer will dictate whether I am sent to a holding area and have my truck searched.
I will be tired after many hours of driving, so do I risk being detained much longer or do I “co-operate”?
Law in Canader wasn’t worked out to advantage the peasant, was it?
Only those with money to burn have Rights before the Courts.
All others must cower to a Police State.
When it comes to FREEDOMS in Canader, I don’t consider Sir Isaac Brock a hero or celebrate our winning the battle of Lundy’s Lane.
I am going to Northern BC hunting soon and I just know I will run into another roving Police Blockade on one of our major North/South highways.
Questions such as; “where are we headed this morning”, or “are you carrying a gun” will be asked when I am stopped. My answer will dictate whether I am sent to a holding area and have my truck searched.
I will be tired after many hours of driving, so do I risk being detained much longer or do I “co-operate”?
Law in Canader wasn’t worked out to advantage the peasant, was it?
Only those with money to burn have Rights before the Courts.
All others must cower to a Police State.
I think the best defense against frivolous lawsuits like Ezra is facing, and which earlier cost Mark Steyn and MacLeans a lot of money, in spite of winning, is “loser pays.” I proposed that to the Minister of Justice at that time, I think is was Nicholson, but he was not interested. In fact he thought it was a ridiculous suggestion.
Anybody ever been sued for calling a dickhead a dickhead?
According to the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, the court may award costs to any party in a law suit OR their attorney.
I thought parties to a suit were entitled to recover costs of said suit from the losing party.
Ah, yet another situation where I question the validity and authority of our “legal” “system”.
I’m with you on that, and “marked” his page, so as to donate soon. We need ppl like Ezra, cuz they do our heavy lifting!!
I’m willing to bet that judge Sachs, Clayton Ruby’s wife, is some ripped with Ezra. She was going to lend her integrity to David Suzuki for his farcical mock trial until Ezra got wind of it and wrote her a letter pointing out that it was not a good idea.
I just sent Ezra some money. I consider it a investment in the future.
Time to pony up for those on point in this war against free speech if not Islamic censorship.
Well said. An investment in the the future to be sure. If anyone gives a rat’s ass about the future for their children and grandchildren, now’s the time to make a stand.
I’m an elderly retiree on a fixed pension but I found a few bucks left over from last month
to toss in the pot.
Match my hundred bucks. I dare you!!
“I thought parties to a suit were entitled to recover costs of said suit from the losing party.”
My understanding is that the recovery is limited to roughly 1/3 of the actual costs. Does this make any sense at all? I think not.
I also am sending Ezra some bucks.
In Team America – World Police they save “Freedom costs a buck-o-five”. I just gave Ezra $100. He says exactly what I think, he just has a gift to put it into words better than I can.
The court will award costs but they are usually limited to the amount specified by “tariff” not the actual costs incurred. The tariff is an archaic document spelling out the costs associated with litigation or an action from about 100 years ago. Even if you win the award is an outright joke. I know this from personal experience.
I sent some $$ his way last time and will do so again. Even if you don’t like what he says you ought to as well.
Went to the standwithEzra website intending to donate $200, but he only takes paypal. Guess I have to go find my checkbook and his snailmail address now. Visa is far faster and more impulsive for donations to causes like this.
I first began to hear about Ezra way back about the time the Byfields sold their “Reports” magazines, and I felt I would never see another letter printed in them. But Ezra was of like mind as everyone then, there, and here now. He admitted to not being particularly devout, but he attacks these fools with Athanasian ferocity! I think he will agrner a lot of support, should he need it.
Loki, a PayPal account uses the c-card of your choice and only takes a minute to set up. Once you’ve got an account, it’s fast, convenient, and super-secure.
In addition to being useful (and fast) for donations to worthy bloggers (e.g. Kate, Ezra, David Thompson) it’s good to use if you ever buy products from online retailers you’re not entirely familiar with, because PayPal, who remits the payment to the retailer, is the only one with your cc information – hence the security.
Anyone know Ezra’s snail mail address, or where to get it, for those of us who do not use credit cards?
I really think that Ezra is going drop kick these legal pretenders as well.
Paypal is quick simple and safe… so far.
I just sent him some money through PayPal. It works great and I have used it for quite a while.
Was very happy to donate to Ezra for this, “Our” cause.
Smart, witty, brash, courageous and tenacious are words that describe Ezra.
As Winston Churchill once said, “You have enemies? Good. That means you have stood for something sometime in your life.”
Ezra stands for something. I am glad he stands for what this country needs at this time.
Stand by Ezra. Stand for something.
Luckily Ezra can’t be sued that easily for his statements on Sun TV. Sun TV head office is in Montreal and Quebec law regarding defamation and libel suits is similar to the U.S. first amendment. We have to give that to Quebec; despite its idiotic language laws its residents can speak more freely than the residents living in other parts of Canada. If someone would sue Ezra they would have to sue Sun TV and no Quebec judge would enforce a libel judgment coming from English Canada or entertain a lawsuit such as the one Ezra is facing right now. The same thing applies in the U.S.
For example, in Quebec you can trash separatists on your blog or on the air without fear of being sued for libel. However, a Quebec separatist could sue you in BC where the only requirement to succeed is to be offended by what someone said or published. I would recommend to Canadians owning any controversial blog or media to make arrangements to have their blog and domain name addressed in Quebec. There is no need to even go to Quebec to do that.