Big City Liberal has noted that Ezra Levant, who is facing a libel trial this week involving some very, very funny comments he made about one Giacomo Vigna – a lawyer with the Canadian “Human Rights” Commission – has backdated this “Correction” on his blog:
My comments about Mr. Vigna were based on the public record, such as transcripts of his comments at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. In particular, on May 11, 2007, when Mr. Vigna claimed he could not proceed because he was not feeling “serene”, he undertook to provide a medical certificate to the CHRT. You can read the transcript here where he makes that promise.
Six weeks later, on June 25, 2007, Mr. Vigna had still not complied with that undertaking, even though the CHRT insisted that he did. You can read that transcript here.
Mr. Vigna never appeared in that case again and based on that, I assumed that Mr. Vigna had never actually submitted his medical certificate.
Just this week I learned from Mr. Vigna that he eventually did provide a doctor’s note to the Tribunal some four months after promising to do so.
In the interest of fairness, I thought it appropriate to publish this correction.
The question is why backdate such a correction and what effect will it have in his libel trial? Is it Ezra’s backhanded way to say that he(Levant) couldn’t have know about all of Mr. Vigna’s actions given that they were not all publicized when Mr Levant wrote the posts at the center of these libel accusations? At the moment, no one knows the motivation behind the post.
I expect that more details on this story and Mr. Levant’s trial will be made public over the next little while.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Ezra a lot. In particular I’ve liked his tilting at the windmills that comprise our odious human rights industry and his comments on the spinelessness of Canada’s “official Jews.”
I notied that warren “Barney” Kinsellsa is crowing about the fact that Mr. Levant was recently found guilty of breaking the Lawyers’ Code of Conduct.
Now given that the a lot of the Lawyers Code of Conduct is all about not rocking the boat, not bringing the profession into ‘disrepute’(what a joke that is!) and, in essence, acting according to some outdated Victoria prim and proper attitudes, I could care less about Mr. Levant’s ‘conviction. ’
To my mind if I ever needed a lawyer in a serious case I’d want a shit disturber and not some panty waisted lawyer who’s more concerned about his career path and some future cushy job on the bench.
In other words, give me Ezra, and I’d be happy.
Oh noes! It’s another poll.
This time its from Nanos so it’s actually somewhat accurate.
It has the Tories at 35.6%, the Grits at 33.9%, the NDP16.4% , and the Greens at a realistic 5.6%.
Quick everybody! Panic! The Tory lead has evaporated! Tories on razor’s edge of losing government and “Will Canadians throw the bums out” shrieks Jane Tabor.
The smell of relief is almost palpable amongst the punditocracy. The Liberals are back in contention. Hooray!
Now some of the relief is due to the simple fact that now they’ll have more to talk and write about. Expect to hear and read stories about what a horserace federal politics have become.
I also think that some of the relief is due to the fact that all those pundits who have had their noses so perpetually out of joint ever since the Tories had the unmitigated gall to actually win not one but two elections now are hoping that the Grits might return as Canada’s natural governing party and that they’ll no longer have to be ashamed at being Canadian.
Well, newsflash folks! They’re polls and not elections. And I think reporters think Canadian have no long term memory. Last summer the Tories and Grits were tied in the polls for ages and it was only when Michael “We Americans” Ignatieff opened his mouth and blithered on that Harper’s time was up that the tie was broken in the Tories favour.
Who’s to say that when serious election talk starts again that the same thing won’t happen again?
The Tories are still the government. They still control the agenda. Despite all the sound and fury signifying nothing surrounding prorogation, there will be no election in the foreseeable future.
In other words it is quite premature to be writing the obituary on this government.
