Ezra Levant is one of Canada's most visible political commentators. He's been able to attract a lot of attention not only for his views, but also for his media skills.
One of the secrets to Levant's success has been the fact that his critics have frequently dragged him in front of human rights commissions for some of the things he's said and written. Even though he's lost many of these lawsuits, Levant still came out a winner in another way. He is able to depict the lawsuit as an attack on free speech, depicting his critics as out to silence anyone they don’t agree with. He’s also attracted a lot more attention and fame for himself in the process.
Dragging Levant before the human rights commissions has actually helped Levant’s message spread. More people are attracted to what he has to say because of all the controversy surrounding his lawsuits.
St. Albert City Council and city manager Patrick Draper are having the same effect with Mr. Draper’s lawsuit against the now-defunct Third Floor News blog and its allegations about what was supposedly going on at city hall. By suing the authors of Third Floor News, whoever they might be, Mr. Draper is only giving them more attention and press than they might have otherwise gotten. These tactics are only raising interest in what Third Floor News and the rest of the City’s critics are saying. Worse yet, as Gord Hennigar pointed out (“Draper lawsuit should be dropped against me”, St. Albert Gazette, Oct. 31), this just makes the city look like it’s trying to stamp out dissent and criticism.
If the city really wanted to counter Third Floor News, the best solution would probably have been to ignore it. I can’t recall any of the prominent city critics I’ve spoken to ever treating it as a credible source, much less quoting it. Had it been left on its own, it almost certainly would have withered and died, the way thousands of anonymous blogs have over the years.
Instead, by trying to go after whoever produced the blog, and spending public money to do it, Mr. Draper is giving city hall’s critics a fresh podium. He’s also making it look like he wants to silence anyone who dares to criticize him, and isn’t above spending public money to do so.
In other words, even if the critics lose the lawsuit, they still win in the long run.
Jared Milne, St. Albert
