Saturday, December 27, 2008

Free Dominion And The CHRC: Another Section 13 Complaint Coming Down The Pipe

A few bits of "inside baseball" stuff re Free Dominion and their ongoing troubles with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

1) Heavily redacted documents supplied to Connie and Ed by the CHRC prove rather conclusively that investigator Dean Steacy was not randomly investigating the forum in advance of specific complaints raised against it. The timing of his actions have been a bugaboo for ages now, as it was felt that Mr. Steacy had it in for FreeD merely because of the board's politics. From January of this year:

According to the documents Connie and I were served from the Canadian Human Rights Commission last summer, Marie-Line Gentes did not bring Free Dominion to the commission's attention with her bogus complaint against us until September 29th, 2006, over five months after Dean Steacy began his 'investigation' by registering as jadewarr.

However, as Connie now notes:

I posted a thread the day we got them saying that it appeared that Dean Steacy lied under oath when he said that he signed up on FD as jadewarr because the Intake document of the first complaint was dates several weeks after he signed up. As I was scanning the pages today, however, I found an email buried amongst a bunch of 2007 pages that were stapled together, and it looks like a message to Dean Steacy about Free Dominion from three or four days before he decided to "jadewarr" us. You can see that (page 12), and the rest of the FD Files here.

2) There is in fact a 2nd complaint against Free Dominion in the works. No further details have been provided thus far.

25 comments:

Lakish said...

BCL of course Ezra Levant has posted about this as well.

I cannot get over how Ezra blatantly lies about the CHRC "hacking" into an innocent citizens WIFI account. He writes this as though it is the truth when the police have claimed insufficient evidence to warrant continued investigation. How does he get away with this?

bigcitylib said...

Lakish,

Well, not even insufficient evidence. The police would have needed access to Stormfront records to wind up the "hacked wifi" case and the site-owner, an associate of the fellow who launched the complaint in the first place,wasn't going to allow that to happen. Its pretty obvious though that no hacking or any kind of access took place.

What has always interested me is: why hasn't Steacy sued anyone? He was accused of crimes BY NAME in a number of Canadian news publications.

Lakish said...

I have to believe that Steacy is under strict instructions from his CHRC bosses to remain quiet. CHRC have taken a very hands off approach and I am not sure it is the best strategy. Also its pretty hard for anyone to launch legal action without some big bucks behind you. I cannot see Steacy being able to independantly pay for such legal action.

I guess the same can be said for the Canadian Jewish Congress. Levant has libeled Bernie Farber countless times and it too has not launched legal action. Though I suppose there is a strong and legit argument to be made that CJC does not want to give Ezra the time of day. I have read on various blogs that Farber's total ignoring of Ezra has been driving Levant crazy. I can actually see that...puts a bit of a smile on my face.

Ti-Guy said...

I'd be fine with that strategy if CTV and some of the other media also ignored the insane liar Levant. Experience shows, however, that they won't.

Sue him into the poor house. It's the only way.

Harry Abrams said...

My sense of FD's latest set of papers is that it was probably a complaint lodged against them, that didn't hold enough water to make it past the round file at CHRC. That's why no names or particulars could be shown.

Looking at today's offering from Levant, there seems to be pretty near enough there for him to get sued for libel all over again.

At some point these actions he's been accumulating are sure to bankrupt him. This free speech martyr thing gets a little thin after awhile.

Reality Bites said...

Ezra will never be (financially) bankrupt as long as there are Nazi-lover-lovers with Paypal accounts

Harry Abrams said...

R.B. wrote:

"Ezra will never be (financially) bankrupt as long as there are Nazi-lover-lovers with Paypal accounts"

It's one thing to get several thousand dollars in dribs and drabs to pay your litigation lawyers, and quite another to settle multiple suits that will no doubt tally into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

At some point even the big contributors are going to balk at continuing to write big cheques that

a) will go right into RW's and others' pockets
b) are the results of obviously reckless and malicious defamation.

At this point Levant's is being sued by three different lawyers who are defending their professional reputations. Plus there are at least 2 complaints to the Alberta Law Society in the works. As some point his backers may decide that Levant is a hysterical, Quixotic liability or simply grow bored with his antics.

For a time, yes, he'll get some attention - but more as a curiosity than as an advocate. And because he can generate attention. But he's been careless and sloppy. Once the "real decisions by real courts" kick in, he'll be yesterday's gruel. Just like that nincompoop Paul Fromm.

Anonymous said...

None of this should come as a shock. Ezra Levant has lied, maligned peoples good names, and made up stories for quite a while now. It is as though he has some kind of pathology since many of his lies (ie the wifi accusation) are easily and demonstrably proven to be false.

And Ti-Guy, I do not recall CTV giving Ezra any air time on these accusations though you are right in that they (like the National Post) tend to use him as a talking (air) head. This gives him undue credibility.

The only time I saw Ezra really get his ass whacked was just before he started his libelous campaign against Bernie Farber of the CJC. He and Farber were on a TVO panel together on the issue of Free Speech. Ezra tried to belittle Farber and Mr. Farber tore him so nicely to shreds that Ezra didnt realize it till his body parts lay dissassembled on the ground. Perhaps this explains why Ezra has chosen to go after Farber. His attacks began shortly after the TVO episode.

I really can't blame Farber for not wanting to continue to go after Levant publically. There is rarely any use getting into a pissing match with a skunk.

Mitka said...

Sue, I also saw that TVO program . It was on the Agenda with Steve Paiken. Farber twisted Ezra into knots. Never thought about the timing of Ezra's attacks against Farber and CJC but now that you mention it the timing makes sense.

Typical of Ezra to use his blog to libel people. His blog won't bite him back like Farber did on TVO.

bigcitylib said...

Yeah, Harry, esp. if none of it results in any meaningful legislative change which, frankly, seems very unlikely.

Ti-Guy said...

And Ti-Guy, I do not recall CTV giving Ezra any air time on these accusations...

Not on those specific issues, but the fact that CTV and other media pay any attention to him at all is appalling.

The editors/producers make those decisions because it creates controversy, which has become an end in itself for them. But the controversy one little liar can stir is not a matter of public interest...an interest we license the broadcasters to represent.

Reality Bites said...

I'm not saying you're wrong, Harry, but it strikes me that people like Gwen Landoldt and Chuch McVety have been making an extremely handsome living for years by preying on these gullible idiots, without ever accomplishing a single thing.

Harry Abrams said...

Uhh...no offense intended, but RB I think you're missing the mark here.

I'd never heard of these two persons before before, but a quick googling shows that one is a pro-life activist and the other has some kind of problem concerning perceived homosexuals.

I have never known either of these issues to be something that Levant has been concerned with, nor or they germane to this discussion. I'll be happy to be proved wrong.

Reality Bites said...

My point is that both their organizations - which exist more on paper than in reality - have furnished them and others tonnes of money over the years by appealling to exactly the same audience as Levant's. And all have strong connections to the Conservative party and the so-called Free Speech Movement.

You'd have a hard time scaring up a supporter of Levant's who isn't both vehemently anti-choice and viciously homophobic.

Harry Abrams said...

"...You'd have a hard time scaring up a supporter of Levant's who isn't both vehemently anti-choice and viciously homophobic...."

Point taken, but I think you're using too wide a brush here.

There may be some cross over from these "groups" into the "speechy" scene, the commonality being a wish for a "license for expressed intolerance," but I have never seen any specific evidence linking anti-choice, anti-gay types with Levant, other than incidentally.

I'm sure we'd all be happy to see some specific examples. If you have some.

Anonymous said...

BCL and Lakish: in regards to the 'hacking' business, I believe there were transcripts of the admission of hacking/tampering in court, no?

The reason I ask is that it's entirely possible that I've missed something important.

And in regards to the police investigation, I would say that not being investigated by the police is a far cry from innocense, as every criminal who's gotten out of the courts scott-free could tell you.

Anonymous said...

*innocence, sorry.

Anonymous said...

Reality Bites/Harry: There is no need to go into the realm of vitriolic hyperbole re: Levant supporters. It makes your arguments ironic, considering what you're accusing Ezra Levant of.

bigcitylib said...

Walker,

Nope. No such admission. The guy from Bell merely associated an IP with a user on a given date. Nothing beyond that. Believe me, I've read the transcript. Don't believe what Ezra tells you.

RB & Harry, one diff between Ms. Landolt and Ezra is that Real Women hasn't gone around basically getting its ass sued by everyone in sight. I just don't see that as being a viable business matter for Ezra over the long term, despite the fact there is a considerable pool of right wing money out there for accessing.

Lakish said...

Walker, BCL was not pulling your leg. Ezra lies. It is as simple as that. Here is what he posted in response to a poster asking the same question as did you:

FROM EZRA"S SITE:

"No wonder they think nothing of such trifles as hacking into an private citizen’s Internet account."

Has this actually been proven anywhere? Have even charges been laid? Last I heard police claimed insufficient evidence to continue with an investigation.

Ezra, its tactics like this that many people find troubling.

EZRA'S REPLY: Gordon, the RCMP didn't find enough evidence to warrant criminal charges, but the Privacy Commissioner continues her investigation. The proof came in the form of sworn testimony by Alain Monfette, Bell Canada's security officer, who testified on March 25, 2008 before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that CHRC staff accessed the Internet through Nelly Hechme's Internet account. When Hechme was contacted, she said she knew nothing about it, and was shocked -- thus the various investigations. She was hacked. Perhaps not blatantly enough to warrant criminal charges. But hacked she was.
Gordon Underhill | 12.27.08 - 5:45 am | #
-----------------------------------

There you have it Walker. ezra caught again in a big fat lie. And many thanks to BCL for making that even more clear. When will Ezra's followers finally grow up and relize that he is nothing but a phony and a liar?

Anonymous said...

Lakish and BCL:

Thanks very much for the information. You've given me a lot to think about. I don't think I'll come to a decision anytime soon, as I'll have to weigh things out and mull them over, but you've made an excellent point.

It's getting so I don't know who to trust these days, you know?

Reality Bites said...

Oh, BCL, I'm not suggesting it's necessarily GOOD business, but I don't think it will bankupt him.

Perhaps it IS good business though. He doesn't have a money-pit of a magazine to sell life-time subscriptions to a week before he folds it anymore. He doesn't really have much in the way of marketable skills except the online equivalent of standing on a street corner and begging. If he doesn't keep pulling this crap, how else can he make money?

Mitka said...

I am beginning to believe that Ezra is mentally unstable. Yesterday he posted the actual Lemire transcript as proof that the CHRC hacked into Hechme's wifi. He told his readers to see the proof for themselves.

This isn't the first time Ezra has pulled such a stunt. A number of months ago he accused the Canadian Jewish Congress of being the historical financial supporter and originator of the Canadian Nazi Party back in 1966. For proof he offered a MacLean’s magazine article of that year and posted a difficult to read story in a format that was hard to download. However some enterprising bloggers (I think BCL you may have been one of them) found the original article in a library, actually read it and reported that there was no such proof claimed in the article. On the contrary the story was about a private investigator hired by the CJC to destroy the strengthening Canadian Nazi Party in Toronto.

This time Ezra posted a transcript of dozens and dozens of pages that he hopes his readers simply will not read or he knows many of his knuckle-dragging followers are illiterate so they will take his word for it.

Well people here can read.
Here is the link:

http://richardwarman.com/transcripts/2007-01-Marc_Lemire/2008-03-25.pdf

Gentle readers please find exactly where in this transcript any mention is made of the CHRC stealing Ms. Hechme's wifi. Please show me where Alain Monette of Bell sympatico, the witness even mentions the CHRC. You can't point to it because you can't find it.

Mitka said...

Ezra Levant has lost all credibility. He is no longer seen as credible by the Tories especially since he gave supposed privileged info discussions on his own site following the election. He is last year's news at best.

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