Free Republic

While the common beach bum and summer cottage rug rat often turn to trashy romance novels while soaking in the dog day hours, some of us need something a bit more stimulating and interesting to keep our attention. We want our cover guy to be Fred Thompson, not Fabio. Therefore, here’s The Moderate Separatist’s Must-Read List:

'Shakedown' author Ezra Levant Canadian Human Rights Commissar Jennifer "I Love to" Lynch (Pic)

Three years ago I was the publisher of a magazine that printed pictures of some Danish cartoons of Muhammad. They were newsworthy because those cartoons sparked riots in the Muslim world that killed more than 100 people. We wanted to show our readers what all the fuss was about. But by doing so, I was charged by the government of Alberta with “hate speech,” and prosecuted for 900 days by 15 government lawyers and bureaucrats at Alberta’s human rights commission (HRC). I was finally acquitted, but not before spending $100,000 in legal fees. Funny: I thought freedom of speech, freedom...

While Shakedown is most certainly a cautionary tale that will educate unsuspecting Canadians of the ever-present threat to their freedom of speech, it should be required reading for Americans who see their liberty and freedom under attack from the forces of political-correctness, and to an increasing degree, the current Obama administration and their policy of appeasement.

Michael Ignatieff’s campaign aide, Warren Kinsella, is threatening to sue me for writing about his involvement in Adscam. You can see a copy of his libel notice here. Justice John Gomery, who chaired the Judicial Inquiry into that scandal, named Kinsella more than a dozen times in his report. You can read the whole thing here – or just search for the word “Kinsella” to get to the point. On page 160 of the report, in a chapter called “Who is responsible?” Justice Gomery noted that Kinsella, then chief of staff to Public Works Minister David Dingwall, tried to steer...

The scandal-plagued Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has had a rough year — and it just got rougher. On Monday, Richard Moon, a University of Windsor law professor, released his report on the CHRC’s troubling penchant for Internet censorship. Moon had been hand-picked by the CHRC to review its conduct, so the whole arrangement had at first looked pretty cozy. In the past, Moon had written favourably about government limits on free speech. That, plus a large payment for his brief report, made Moon’s review look like a PR stunt, especially since the CHRC simultaneously hired the pricey lobby firm...

August 28, 2008 Natalie Dagenais Canadian “Human Rights” Commission 344 Slater Street Ottawa, ON K1A 1E1 Dear Natalie, Re: Rob Wells v. Ezra Levant I received your letter dated August 8, 2008. At first I wasn’t sure it was yours, because you didn’t write your name on it, and your signature was illegible. I can understand your shyness. It has become an embarrassment to publicly admit to being a “human rights investigator” in Canada, because Canadians have caught on to what you really do: you don’t actually protect human rights, you violate them. At least you didn’t sign it as...

Muslim radicals threaten to appeal my dismissalBy Ezra Levant on August 7, 2008 9:15 PMI haven't seen any public report about it yet, but a journalist at CTV told me that the radical Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities, part of the Saudi values coalition that hauled me to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, has threatened to appeal my acquittal on "hate speech" charges for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in 2006. I think it's probably just tough talk on their part -- it reminds me of an Arab friend of mine who told me that, as a conscript in...

After a year-long investigation, the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission has rejected a complaint by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant over his republication of the Danish Muhammad cartoons. The allegation that the February 14, 2006, issue of the now defunct magazine was likely to expose Muslims to hatred helped to spark a national debate about human rights law and free speech, and its rejection comes after similar complaints of Islamophobia against Maclean's magazine also failed. ... "I was let go because I'm in the media every day. I've been down to...

My lawyers have just received a copy of a letter from the Alberta Human Rights Commission dismissing the complaint of “discrimination” filed against me by the radical Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities. They had complained that by publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in the Western Standard in February 2006, I had engaged in an illegal act. Their complaint was identical to the one filed earlier by an anti-Semitic imam named a href=http://ezralevant.com/2008/01/inside-syed-soharwardys-mosque.html>Syed Soharwardy. Soharwardy abandoned his complaint this spring. You can see Soharwardy’s complaint here; it named both me and the magazine. The Edmonton complaint named just the...

Dean Skoreyko has filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal against Kenneth Hotz and Showcase TV for their televised stunt of flying a plane past Toronto pulling a giant banner reading "Jesus sucks", pictured at left. The stunt was part of a television contest to see who could be the most offensive. Hotz claims he originally wanted to have a banner saying "Heil Hitler" or "Guys are stupid", but the airplane banner company refused, saying those messages were too offensive. Apparently "Jesus sucks" isn't. The whole joke rather imploded on itself. It wasn't funny, but it wasn't even...

I think the battle for freedom of speech is going pretty well, even though it's summertime. Human rights commissions are being ridiculed on an almost daily basis in the media; their coalition is starting to fracture under the stress, as evidenced by the defection of the B'nai Brith; and the "lawfare" being waged against me and other critics of the HRCs hasn't worked, largely because of the broad public support expressed through the Internet (thank you, again). As the Canadian Human Rights Commission's stunned chief commissioner, Jennifer Lynch, admitted in June, her industry just didn't expect the "velocity" of criticism...

I think another lawsuit is coming my way. Today, my lawyer received this letter from a radical Muslim activist in Toronto. It's a Certificate of Registration of Copyright. He claims to have copyrighted the image of Mohammed, PBUH. In other words, it's now Mohammed, PBUH, TM. I checked it out on Industry Canada's copyright database and, sure enough, there it is: two weeks ago, Akhtar "Hector" Agha has indeed registered a "Restriction on Depiction of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)". It's right there on the government website. I'm not sure, but I think "Hector" might be looking for a royalties payment for...

Announcer From the Maritimes to the Yukon, the Great White North was once a lawless land where cruel and offensive opinions roamed free - until one man stood up and brought them to justice. One mighty masked man, clad in the scarlet breechcoat of the Royal Canadian Mounted Human Rights Police, astride a golden disabled lesbian steed, with his faithful transgender Indian scout at his side. Together they rode from Yellowknife to St. John's, keeping Canadians safe from the spectre of multicultural insensitivity. The Canadian Broadcast Corporation invites you to return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear...

My old friend Winston attended Mark Steyn's book signing at Toronto's flagship Indigo bookstore, where Steyn was interviewed by Indigo president Heather Reisman. I had to click on Winston's photos to see what Steyn was wearing on his head: a bright orange "Infidel" ballcap. No word on whether that was a gift from the Canadian Islamic Congress sock puppets last night. I wasn't there, and I've seen no other reports on the subject, so I'll simply quote Winston's report without comment (and I'll quote his Farsi, just to be exotic!): He was interviewed by... Reisman and it was as if...

The attack on freedom of speech courtesy of Richard (I was picked on as a kid) Warman and his partner in crime, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, has drawn opposition from all sides of the political spectrum with pundits on the left and the right condemning the taxpayer-funded lawsuit (read: witchhunt) against Canadian conservative writers....

After publisher Ezra Levant finally prevailed against a bogus complaint about “hate speech” for expressing his views about radical Islam at Canada’s Human Rights Commission, he expected the battle to continue in civil courts. Sure enough, he got sued by Richard Warman, a CHRC investigator — who included a number of Canada’s conservative bloggers. Ezra: Today I was sued by Richard Warman, Canada’s most prolific – and profitable – user of section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. As readers of this site know, Warman isn’t just a happy customer of section 13 and its 100% conviction rate, he’s...

Canada is a lucky nation to have men like this By Ezra Levant February 26, 2008 I sometimes get e-mails from Canadian Forces troops in Afghanistan, who are always thoughtful about the larger purpose of their mission. It's clear to me that they think and talk a lot about the moral importance of their mission. I believe they are true idealists. Of course they are: in a time of war, with a near-certainty of deployment to the front lines, it takes a very special and selfless person to volunteer to join the army. If my correspondents are any indication, our...

WATCH ONE MAN TAKE ON THE PRO-ISLAMIC THOUGHT POLICE Videos 1 - 9 of 9   EzraILevant's Videos All Videos | Most Viewed | Most Discussed   Details of the complaint03:23 Added: 3 weeks agoViews: 15,517 155 ratings Closing argument04:40 Added: 4 weeks agoViews: 27,912 287 ratings How does the commission mak...03:34 Added: 1 month agoViews: 21,458 218 ratings Attributes of free speech05:48 Added: 1 month agoViews: 33,857 397 ratings Entitled to my opinion?00:38 Added: 1 month agoViews: 31,218 224 ratings I don't answer to the state02:32 Added: 1 month agoViews: 98,225 536 ratings The real violence in Edmonton03:20 Added:...

Much has now been written about Ezra Levant, the former publisher of the now defunct Western Standard, and his decision two years ago to publish a set of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. For those who prefer to forget, they were the Danish caricatures of the founder of Islam, implying a connection between Muslim fanaticism and terrorist violence. In response to the appearance of the said pictures and their claim that Islamic extremism led to violence, Islamic extremists killed people, promised to decapitate their opponents and firebombed churches and embassies. Not all Muslims behaved or thought thus. But anyone...