Staggin’ and Doughin’ with the Fords: Quack, Quack!

  A premier has a responsibility to the people, and to the government itself, not to destroy the credibility of the political system by appearing to be auctioning favours. Unlike a private citizen, a premier can’t skate up to the very edge of the legal blue line and claim he’s not offside. When Doug Ford’s lovely and talented daughter held

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Ontario Municipal Election Coverage

Here’s a good litmus test for the quality of journalism in your community, if you live in Ontario: Is the municipal election in your community getting coverage? Municipal councils now have four-year terms (up from one year in the 1960s, two-year in the 1970s, when council positions were sort of honorary spots for local business leaders). In medium and large

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What WE Lost: A Review

Tawfiq Rangwala has written a well-researched, solid account of the destruction of the WE movement in Canada. It’s remarkably clearly written. Rangwala is a lawyer who could have gone too deeply into the weeds of corporate and legal jargon, but What WE Lost is compelling and very readable. People should read this book. It is the only complete analysis of

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WE Charity Sues the CBC’s “The Fifth Estate”

We Charity issued a release last week saying it had filed a massive lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The Statement of Claim can be read here.I have never seen such a detailed Statement of Claim during my years as a legal journalist or my time as a lawyer representing

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Theresa Kielburger v. Canadaland et al

Here’s the statement of claim in Theresa Kielburger’s lawsuit against Canadaland, Jesse Brown and several of his employees. The lawsuit focusses on Canadaland repeating, in its one-sided White Saviors Podcast, libels published in Saturday Night magazine in 1996. Craig Kielburger, then 13 years old, sued the magazine and writer Isabel Vincent, who now writes for the New York Post but

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Preliminary Notes on an Early Election

I hope someone writes an honest book about media coverage of this election so I can finally understand what the hell’s been happening. There hasn’t been a good book by a Parliament Hill journalist in years, and all the latest political books have been stillborn, with minimal sales, but where there’s life, there’s hope.First, I’d like to know how this

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Levant v. Al Jazeera and Levant v The Narwal

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice released two decisions last week on SLAPP motions filed by defendants of lawsuits launched by Ezra Levant.

I am working on a high-profile defamation case that may involve a SLAPP motion at some point. I am not going to help opponents on the other side, which is one of the reasons I have done so little new posting on this site. Someday, hopefully soon, I can do a deep dive into the two Ontario SLAPP cases recently decided by the Supreme Court of Canada.

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Book Pitch, July 26, 2016

Has the death of mainstream media opened the door to every political quack and snake-oil dealer with the gall to dream up the most compelling lies?

In the spring of 2916, supporters of Brexit flat-out lied to the British people. They lied about the cost of Britain in the EU, about immigration. Almost as soon as the polls closed, they began to back-peddle on their lies and flee. Cameron and Farage resigned.

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The Attempted Murder of the Kielburgers

First, a little re-intro. I am a former journalist, now practicing law and writing researched non-fiction books. I hold a PhD in History, as well as a law degree and a Master’s degree in journalism. I’m a four-time National magazine Award nominee, winning once for a feature on a wrongly-accused man. In 2015, my book Kill the Messengers: Stephen Harper’s

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