PING!
Posted on 03/26/2007 8:43:09 AM PDT by GMMAC
Kennedy, two Liberal MPs begin suit against paper
Libel notices served after column alleged deal cut before leadership convention
CAMPBELL CLARK
Toronto Globe and Mail
Saturday, March 24, 2007
OTTAWA -- Defeated Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy and two Liberal MPs have served libel notices on the National Post over a column that alleged they cut a deal to scrap controversial security measures in exchange for organizing leadership-convention votes.
Mr. Kennedy and the two Toronto-area MPs, Navdeep Bains and Omar Alghabra, claim that the column falsely asserted that the MPs struck a deal to bring sizable delegations of Sikhs and Muslims to help elect Mr. Kennedy as Liberal leader if he would oppose two sections of the anti-terror act.
The column, penned by Post comment editor Jonathan Kay, stated that a "well-informed source" informed him that "the critical deals were cut months in advance."
The three Liberals responded with a libel notice this week -- the first step toward a defamation lawsuit -- and issued a news release yesterday announcing the action, and asserting that they look forward to "exposing" Mr. Kay's anonymous source.
"Ultimately, Mr. Kay made allegations that were based on absolutely no facts," said Rob Silver, a spokesman for Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Bains and Mr. Alghabra.
"They're going to fight to defend their reputations and their integrity."
The allegations in the libel notice have not been proven in court. Both Mr. Kay and the Post's editor-in-chief, Douglas Kelly, declined to comment.
Mr. Bains and Mr. Alghabra were key organizers for Mr. Kennedy's leadership bid, and both followed Mr. Kennedy to back Stéphane Dion on later ballots.
Mr. Kay's column followed on a controversy sparked by a report in the Vancouver Sun that erupted into a furious exchange in the House of Commons.
The Vancouver Sun reported on Feb. 22 that Mr. Bains' father-in-law, Darshan Singh Saini, was on a list of potential witnesses that investigators into the 1985 Air India bombings might seek to question under a special investigative hearing provision of Canada's anti-terrorism act.
Under Mr. Dion, the Liberals had switched position to oppose the extension of the investigative hearings, which were first adopted in the 2001 anti-terror law passed by the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.
In the Commons last month, Mr. Harper began to read the Sun article, stating it described how the Liberal Party makes decisions, before he was shouted down by Liberal MPs who demanded an apology.
Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Bains, and Mr. Alghabra all state in their libel notices they did not make any deal about the anti-terror provisions, and Mr. Bains asserts that he never discussed them with either Mr. Kennedy or Mr. Dion.
PING!
Bump!
I can't decide if the Dion Grits really like terrorists, or that the Liberal Party will do ANYTHING to retain power.
The Liberals will do ANYTHING to gain/retain power AND rationalize the actions of / have empathy for / sympathize with terrorists!
A MUST READ: The Essence of Liberalism: Embracing Life's Losers
Yes, that's a great article. Some more socialist conservatives I showed it to were highly offended by it. :)
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