Ezzrata: "It Looks Like There's An Attempt To Decieve There"

Ezra Levant has appealed the defamation case brought against him by Khurrum Awan.  He lost that case.  Given Richard Warman's account of the appeal, I suspect he will lose it too.  That is all.

PS. Title is my favorite line from one of the judges during the appeal.  Other favorite lines, directed at Ezra's lawyer, include "Why this is important?" and "Why is this relevant?"

Ezra Levant Out 72 Large

...for costs brought about by losing the defamation case brought against him by Khurrum Awan:

Meanwhile, some interesting bits of info emerged from the Duffy trial.  One is this daily itinerary for
February 8, 2010:

A meeting for pizza with Ez and the PM's wife.  Also this:

Repeated appearances in the Duffy Diaries to helping Vivian Krause (@FairQuestions), who researched enviro charities such as Tides.
— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) April 8, 2015

Vian Krause originally did some pretty shoddy research purporting to show that Canadian enviro groups were taking foreign money to aid Alaskan salmon fisherman at the expense of B.C. aqua farmers.  Ezra Levant later repurposed this research to argue that enviro groups were taking foreign money to aid U.S. oil companies, not entirely with Ms. Krause' blessing.

So: connections...

Did Calgary Herald Disappear Editorial Re Ezra Levant?

It looked like it might be mildly Ezra-critical:

But now, not two hours after it appeared, all you get is a 404 error.  Someone send in their army of lawyers?

Levant Vs. Awan: Past Is Future?

From Blatchford's latest:

MacKinnon told the judge in his opening statement Levant’s defence is largely that of fair comment — traditionally the defence that is the purview of journalists.

And yet Levant, by his own admission, is not a journalist. “I’m a commentator, I’m a pundit,” he explained to the judge. “I don’t think in my entire life I’ve ever called myself a reporter.”

And he appears to have considered it Awan’s responsibility to have contacted him if he had a complaint about what he was writing, when, in fact, most journalists consider it their burden to contact those about whom they’re writing.

From the decision in Levant vs. Vigna, which Ezra lost:

I'm betting that, for a second time in a row, a judge will not let Ezra claim journalistic protections when he did not follow "responsible journalistic practices".  But I am only willing to bet $5.  I'm not made out of money, after all.

Who Stands With Ezra, Other Than Ezra?

Turns out Stand With Ezra, the site Ezra uses to raise funds for the most recent defmation suit against him,which was  allegedly set up by "friends and allies of Ezra Levant from across Canada and around the world who believe his fight for freedom of speech is our fight too", was almost certainly the work of Ezra himself.  It is, for example, registered to his dad's Calgary address.

Ezra Levant And The Cost Of Delay

$7,500 to ditch your lawyer and buy a few more weeks before trial?  Well, shit, that's not chump-change. Remind me not to talk trash about people on the Internet. 

Ezra Speaks Out On Latest Defamation Case

Thus far Ezra Levant said nothing re the latest defamation case brought against him.  However, I have it on good authority that he will be issuing an official statement on his blog and Sun News show very soon.  In fact, I have acquired what I believe to be a rough draft of this statement:

Well, I sure am back in the shit!  Dad's gonna kill me.  He's told me: one more lawsuit and boom! no more allowance.  And then what?  My Sun News  gig is going T.U. on me. Pretty soon I'll be on a bus back to the tar patch.

But back to what?  Dad's said: "Fuck up one more time and you're out the door!  A road map and an apple is all you get, and then I rent your apartment!"  Right now I'm seeing a room at a Motel 6 in my future, eating off the hot-plate, and waiting tables 16 hours a day up in Lethbridge to pay my lawyers' bill.  Would you like fries with that, sir?  No?  How about a muffin?  Oh how far to fall!

I don't think I can hack it.  I've grown used to the soft Toronto living, to the two-way streets and  the sweet city coffee they make out here.  I don't think I can go back to Tim Horton's...big dumb, Tim Horton's.  Boring...like the coffee equivalent of the missionary position.

Maybe I can try an apology this time, and get in front of the issue.  YO AWAN!  I'M SORRY!!! I'M SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY!  I'M SOOO SORRRRRYYYYY!!!! you swarthy little prick.  Didn't mean that!  DIDN"T MEAN THAT!

I wonder if anyone heard me.

To Know Him Is To Sue Him, Part II: Ezra Gets Sued AGAIN

...blithers at length, and I do mean at length, begs for money.

Actual information in the post:

Khurrum Awan of the CIC is doing the suing.

Brian Shiller, who has also worked for Warren Kinsella and Richard Warman in the past, is his lawyer.

The libel notice is here.

The rest is the literary equivalent of watching a pot boil over.