Velshi Bails

...on Ethical Oil, is replaced by Tory Blogger.  Not to suggest causality, but I would note that the Harper government, after huffing and puffing a bit over the Canadian Value of Free Speech, seems to have decided against taking public action over the Saudi government's threat to sue anyone running EO's adds:

When QMI Agency reported that Riyadh had hired a high-powered law firm to tell Canadian media not to air Ethicaloil.org ads that are critical of Saudi oppression of women, several Tory ministers denounced the move as a violation of free speech rights.

The Commons foreign affairs committee has been asked to look into the matter, but Conservative MP and committee chairman Dean Allison just lumps it in with a host of issues the committee might look into.

[...]

Allison refused to say whether he’d try to convince the Conservative majority on the committee to take up Ethicaloil.org’s concerns, but he didn't close the door completely.

“We are going to have a steering meeting this Thursday,” said Allison. “I think that when we meet Thursday, I think what we’ll end up doing is trying to nail down a bit more of an agenda as we move forward.”

...which would be the right decision even if the Saudi action is a SLAPP suit (which it almost certainly is).  After all, you can't tell a Canadian law firm (Norton Rose) that they can`t pursue a case through the Canadian legal system.

Which leaves Ethical Oil (getting its funding from God Knows) and the cash-strapped Sun TV, who are still running the ads in question, on their own.

Good time to take a long vacation, Alykhan?

Update: Now here's a mind-blower.  Velshi has been appointed to the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, a City of T.O. committee that was founded by...Jack Layton!