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Monday, April 23, 2007
Sneak preview
Here's a sneak preview of our new issue, just off the presses this morning: cover; column; story.
Normally we hold back on publishing to the Internet so that our home subscribers get the good stuff first. But this is a special case: one of the subjects of our cover story, an MP named Mark Holland, has threatened us with a lawsuit if we keep talking about him and the Liberal theft of Conservative personnel files. That's called libel chill -- an attempt to bully journalists (including bloggers) so that they stop talking about things.
We don't react well to libel chill over here at the Western Standard -- not from the Libranos, not from rioting anti-cartoon radicals. The proper response is to make sure our facts are accurate and our comments are fair, and then publish freely. Hence our cover story. Read it and tell us what you think. Feel free to post a comment. You, too, Mark.
Posted by Ezra Levant on April 23, 2007 | Permalink
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» Mark Holland, has threatened re the Liberal theft of Conservative personnel files. from Marginalized Action Dinosaur
Heres a sneak preview of our new issue, just off the presses this morning:Normally we hold back on publishing to the Internet so that our home subscribers get the good stuff first. But this is a special case: one of the subjects of our cover sto... [Read More]
Tracked on 2007-04-23 7:37:38 PM
» Levant exposes Liberals as dirty scoundrels from Alberta Spectator: Werner Patels
Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant has scored a major goal against the Liberals and Mark Holland, in particular:Normally we hold back on publishing to the Internet so that our home subscribers get the good stuff first. But this is a [Read More]
Tracked on 2007-04-24 6:48:55 PM
Comments
Mark,
Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 2007-04-23 5:44:18 PM
This calls for an upgrade of the Liberal party.
Hence forth, it will be known as the REALLY Crooked Liberal Party of 3 Big Cities (one of which is on the edge of bankruptcy).
Posted by: rockyt | 2007-04-23 6:04:22 PM
Awww man, I hope you are found to be found in the wrong on this one and seriously taken to the cleaners.
The sinking of the Western Standard ... kind of has a nice ring to it.
Posted by: Markus D. | 2007-04-23 6:13:27 PM
Markus,
Thank you kindly for your warm wishes. Now, would you like to hear from the horses mouth or his other end before making an unbiased decision?
Posted by: h2o273kk9 | 2007-04-23 6:20:10 PM
The facts speak for themselves.
Holland knows what they are.
Nevertheless, with typical Liberal chutzpah, he blusters a lawsuit threat...
I've noticed a pattern wherein when we've got a Liberal or Liberals cornered with proof of wrongdoing, they threaten to sue.
Par for the course.
Very good work, WS.
I'll be waiting for Holland's response... if any.
Probably will not say anything. MSM likely to stay silent.
Why? They don't want the Liberals to be known for a Watergate-style incident... they'll desperately try to keep a lid on it by not drawing attention to the WS story and so on...
Sure, they ain't crooks. They say so, don't they?
Posted by: The Canadian Sentinel | 2007-04-23 6:21:53 PM
rockyt: I've responded whenever I've seen this come up. They are not the party of three big cities. I'm assuming you're referring to Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Vancouver may have gone all liberal but they're not the third biggest city in Canada, not even close.
What the liberal media, and others who weren't paying attention, are referring to whenever they speak of 'third largest city in Canada' is the Lower Mainland of BC. That's actually quite a few cities put together, including Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, Delta, White Rock, Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge, etc.
The Conservatives did very well in many of these cities, so once again, the liberals are the party of two big cities...oh, they're regional too.
Posted by: Gen. Lee Wright | 2007-04-23 6:57:49 PM
I have long felt that an analogy can be drawn between the way governments and politicians of the left think as compared to the way organized crime thinks. The analogy is best understood when one examines the welfare state.
Both institutions have territory. Both have clients or subjects within that territory. Both need to protect the borders of their territory. Both demand payment from their clients (taxes/extortion) that is not optional. Individuals testing whether or not these payments are optional face consequences (fines or jail / a visit from the fellows with sunglasses and no smile). Services are provided by this institution to the clients in return for these payments (social programs / protection). It is unwise for a client to expect that payments received should be proportional to services delivered. A client does not have substitute privileges for some other service if he does not take advantage of the service provided by the institution.
Clearly, the list could get much longer and it is obvious that penalties for non-compliance are different but there is one more part of the analogy that is interesting. When the organization faces pressure from a competing institution, its initial instinct is to combat it (laws or new fines / broken thumbs). It will not spend its resources on something it does not consider a threat.
Congratulations, Ezra. It may be the only way you will receive a compliment from the Liberals. However, I do believe that you have hit the nail on the head when you state they are "desperate". I think it is safe to assume that the intensity of the implied Liberal compliment is proportional to the intensity that this is pursued.
Posted by: Brent Weston | 2007-04-23 6:59:34 PM
Gen. Lee,
I suspect Rockyt was referring to Toronto, Montreal & Ottawa - cities where every liberal candidate could be incarcerated, and still get elected.
This stupid stunt is sure blowing up in the liberals shameless faces.
Posted by: Mark R | 2007-04-23 7:09:04 PM
Keep up the good work Ezra. Trying to intimidate the media is a very slippery slope. Mr. Holland and Ms. Jennings have looked like a couple of putzes from the get go on this issue.
I hope that Mr. Reid follows up with the Privacy Commisioner on the matter also.
Liberal ethics...they just keep on giving!!!
Posted by: Paul | 2007-04-23 7:15:56 PM
Now he can threaten to sue me too I put it up on my blog.
Posted by: Arthur Anderson | 2007-04-23 7:38:23 PM
Great work, Ezra. Bullies always slink away when you stand up to them.
How stupid are these Libs, parading these documents around for the cameras? How could they possibly have thought this was anything but, at best, classless, and at worst, criminal?
If the Conservatives are smart, they will publicize this broadly as a case of outsiders combing through other people's confidential personnel files. No matter the political affiliation, this will rub anyone the wrong way.
Posted by: NCF TO | 2007-04-23 7:54:38 PM
Ezra, you're the best. You're the only guy in this country who has the guts to stand up to the liberal status quo.
Rush Limbaugh did it first in the States. You're doing it here, man. It's why Liberals can't stand you.
God bless you. God bless freedom.
Keep up the great work, man!
Posted by: Dennis (Second Thoughts) | 2007-04-23 8:09:49 PM
Liberal 'ethics', Paul? Talk about an oxymoron!
Posted by: Norbert | 2007-04-23 8:12:41 PM
MarkR: I suspect Rockyt was referring to Toronto, Montreal & Ottawa - cities where every liberal candidate could be incarcerated, and still get elected.
I'm in Ottawa, and looking around I see two Libs: Belanger and McGuinty, one NDPer, and the rest are Tories: Baird, Poilevre, Galipeau, O'Connor, Reid, Lauzon, etc..Ottawa is Tory country.
Posted by: Le Politico | 2007-04-23 8:26:02 PM
Good job Ezra!
I've a question; if I were to go on TV and brandish some illegal drugs that I had just bought would the police not have grounds to arrest me? My next question is this; should Mr. Holland not likewise be arrested? While he may not have actually stolen the boxes/ files/ papers himself he was seen on national TV to be in possession and t of them. That would appear to be possession of stolen goods at the very least. Hell, I got busted for buying a car stereo that was, unknown to me, stolen; I didn't even get much of a deal! It was only with the help of a related lawyer that I was able to avoid a criminal record. I guess being a Liberano means never having to say "Not Guilty your honour".
Anyway, where are the damned cops? Arrest these criminals! I would say "alleged" criminals but, as they seem to have admited to the theft and possession of these files, I feel no such compulsion. Geeez...........
Posted by: Hoser | 2007-04-23 8:33:39 PM
Sometimes you have to flush several times to get the bowl clean. The electorate has only flushed once so far, and it is clear to me the bowl is still dirty. The entitlement, the arrogance, the meanness and the utter lack of prinicple obviously runs very deeply in the Liberal Party ... not just the last version, but the current one too.
Keep hanging their dirt out for one and all to see. While there are a whole lot of Toront ... er, Canadians who will vote for this bunch despite this latest episode, there are many others who need to be constantly reminded why we got rid of them.
Good work WS!
Posted by: Peter | 2007-04-23 8:40:03 PM
No matter how many times the Liberals say they gave it all back and did not make any copies, few are going to believe them. Blow by blow the Liberals the are loosing the trust of honest Canadians
Posted by: truthsayer | 2007-04-23 8:40:04 PM
Good work Ezra, keep it up!!! Do you notice that that usually loud mouth Holland and for that matter Jennings have been pretty silent lately? Is it possible that someone in the lieberals have stuffed a sock in their mouths? Now if only someone could do it to that other loudmouth Kennedy!!!!!
Posted by: Mikey | 2007-04-23 8:42:45 PM
"No matter how many times the Liberals say they gave it all back and did not make any copies"
Reminds me of Mrs. Bill Clinton and the 900 FBI files that were "mistakenly" misappropriated by Craig Livingstone - who still does not know who hired him. RIGHT!
Posted by: obc | 2007-04-23 8:45:12 PM
Good job Ezra!
The LIEberals would break the laws of physics if they thought they could get away with it.
Posted by: Hans Rupprecht | 2007-04-23 9:02:47 PM
Mark Holland should burn in hell - so should all the other cheap, lying politicians who take advantage of our trust and play games instead of doing their jobs.
Posted by: Jason Bo Green | 2007-04-23 9:11:29 PM
Ezra,
Liberal blogger Jason Cherniak has responded to Kevin Steel's article on his site. He doesn't deny making an ad that quotes Stephen Harper out of context to make it look like he enjoys the deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. No, all he can do is make fun of you for using the term "internet tv ad" which, if google is any indication, looks like a fairly common phrase.
Posted by: Chris Vanoostveen | 2007-04-23 9:16:23 PM
Ezra,
Bravo on standing up to these bullies. You know with their libel chill, hate speech laws and media-enforced 'taboos', these liberals and their fellow travellers are strangling our democracy.
If this ever goes to court I hope you stick to it and make sure there are consequences for Holland and Dion.
By the by, I took a look at Holland's website. How is accusing him of reading 'ibel', but this quote from him below, not?
"Levant was Day’s spokesperson at the time of the Hart payoff and he remains a close personal friend of Day’s family. His tendency to invent facts earned him mention in former Reform Party Leader Preston Manning’s book Think Big."
Posted by: Robert | 2007-04-23 10:03:57 PM
The Liberal(Criminal) Party of Canada, or would that be Criminal-Liberal Party of Canada?... Whatever(it's hard to keep track of who they want to merge with).
Liberals cannot get over their corruption because they're out of ideas and have no principles. They really need a decade in the wilderness - long enough to get the current bunch out or locked up in jail.
Posted by: philanthropist | 2007-04-23 11:37:17 PM
Good on ya' Ezra!!!
Theft by Conversion. Whew!! Near as I can see, it's impossible to get out of. Labeled and waiting for the movers and it gets moved to an unknown location, boxes opened, files read and copied....and all inside the OLO.....m'thinks that this is not over.
Pat
Posted by: Pat | 2007-04-23 11:59:10 PM
Good job for exposing those crooks.
Posted by: Werner Patels | 2007-04-24 12:05:37 AM
Ezra....Great Work!
I love the way the Libranos whine when they are caught red handed. That Holland is a real piece of work...talk about self incriminating! Why has there not been criminal charges laid for this theft?
If Holland is stupid enough to press on with his lawsuit please let us know as i for one would gladly put up a few grand to help with your defense cost, and i am sure there are many others that feel the same way.
Posted by: Al W | 2007-04-24 12:24:52 AM
I'm glad someone is bringing light to this whole ordeal.
The first time I saw Holland and Jennings parade these files before the media, I considered their obvious violations of privacy more serious than what they were accusing the Conservatives of.
Posted by: Joel K. | 2007-04-24 5:22:52 AM
Holland and his side-kick Jennings will have a great web of lies spun for the Speaker, fellow Liberal, Milliken. It's all up to his decision. Does anyone really think he'll put it down to anything other than maybe AN HONEST MISTAKE?
We can get ready to set the music to "Mr. Holland's Opus".
We can't expect people as desperate as the Libranos, mired in corruption, to come clean on anything.
Oh what a tangled web........!
Posted by: LizJ | 2007-04-24 6:22:39 AM
Scott Reid is my MP, and someone who I consider a very ethical person. It disgusts me that Mark Holland and his ilk would engage in lawbreaking to try and score political points - which, evidently, they could not do.
Incompetent in government, incompetent in opposition, and even incompetent at subterfuge...No hope for the Lieberals!
Posted by: BHC | 2007-04-24 6:22:55 AM
Keep up the good fight Ezra - Millikin is a Liberal Clone always has been or else he would not be Speaker - a totally biased and dishonest clone
created by Eddie Goldenburger, former advisor to
Chretien. As an MP Millikin was detested almost as much as Goldenburger - Exciting days ahead. Macleod
Posted by: Jack Macleod | 2007-04-24 7:07:45 AM
You know the problem, Not really a problem thankfully, with blogs and right wing rags like this, is that they are usually only read by like minded people and the curious from the other side of the spectrum. The same is true for the extreme left too.
So go one, rant and rave. Jump about crying foul and whine about how unfair it is that the rest of Canada doesn't agree with your narrow views. You all deserve each other.
Posted by: Tommy Canuck | 2007-04-24 7:35:22 AM
Good job Ezra and staff.
Will this story have legs in MSM?
The Western Standard, the Canadian print equivalent of FOX News.
Posted by: Joe Molnar | 2007-04-24 7:44:15 AM
I have a couple of questions:
1. The article very carefully explins what "theft by conversion" is. Would this be another example of "theft by conversion"? - http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2006/01/liberal_red_boo.html
2. I would have thought that a serious journalist would be as interested in the possibility that there is definitive proof that Hart was bribed to let Day run. The article mentions it in passing, but seems to attach no importance to it. But this, too, would be a criminal act. I can understand why a dishonest, biased, partisan spokseman for the Conservatives would downplay it, but not what a journalist would. Is the Western Standard just the propaganda wing of the Conservative Party, then? If not, why not more interest in what seems to be new evidence of Day commiting a crime? If crime among elected officials really is serious business, then it should not matter what party the crook is in, right?
Posted by: Art | 2007-04-24 7:59:26 AM
Today 24 April 2007 in Israel the 59th Anniversary of Yom ha'atzmaut is celebrated Go to The Jerusalem Post for details - Macleod
Posted by: Jack MacLeod | 2007-04-24 7:59:50 AM
Art:
"If crime among elected officials really is serious business, then it should not matter what party the crook is in, right?"
Agreed. Please post away. Thanks for making your point in a polite manner.
Posted by: Brent Weston | 2007-04-24 8:04:26 AM
Great Job Ezra. Does the Property, namely the Boxes, fall under the juristriction of the Speaker of The House? Is The Speaker not obliged to report to the Parliment on his findings, which I understood he was going to.
Anyway Holland and Jenning make a good pair and I await thier legal proceedings with interest.
Posted by: RJ | 2007-04-24 8:13:19 AM
It's really nice to see all of you congratulating EZRA for exposing our political enemies ...
Now how about buying a subscription to the Standard !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't be cheap.
I will come to you mail box every two weeks and you will have trouble putting it down.
This small expense will strengthen the Standard and enable them to ward off the swarm of the liberal and Muslim lawsuit AND KEEP ON LOOKING OUT FOR US!
Do now!!!
Posted by: Yanni | 2007-04-24 8:58:15 AM
Tommy canuck
Typical Lib/NDP, dodge the issue when possible, lie if you cannot dodge.
Posted by: missing link | 2007-04-24 9:06:52 AM
Well Ezra your fabricated stories are lies. i would sue you too. Like your insightful Garth Turner story. Who do you think you are kidding?
Canadians are not stupid.
Posted by: Keith Phibbs | 2007-04-24 9:18:57 AM
What about the real criminal in this case, Stockwell Day?
Posted by: Keith Phibbs | 2007-04-24 9:20:37 AM
Reading over Holland's position, I think it's unlikely he read each file, so he may have a point, albeit a minor point. Journalistic license?
He's also taking issue that the boxes were sealed. Were they or not?
The first statement is an obvious embellishment, even though Holland admits researchers under his employ, not he personally, looked through more files than he did.
Anybody have any other info, from the people who allegedly sealed the boxes, to verify that fact?
If they were in fact sealed and labelled and those facts come out in court, then Ezra has nothing to worry about.
The truth, of course, will come out eventually.
Posted by: Set you free | 2007-04-24 9:25:14 AM
Ezra, as usual you make sure your rants, whether truthful or not,mostly not, get published. Talk about bully pulpits. Sad and sick you are.
Posted by: Terry in Toronto | 2007-04-24 9:47:13 AM
Who do you think you are kidding?
Canadians are not stupid.
Posted by: Keith Phibbs | 24-Apr-07 9:18:57 AM
???????? Then why do they keep voting for these crooks? Hell, you could catch one of them with a body in the trunk of his Caddy and he'd STILL get elected.
Shit, they ALMOST formed the gov't after Adscam.
Over 100 seats in the last election! I'd say Canadians must be pretty damn stupid indeed and it would seem that you chief are among that happy
crowd.
Posted by: Anon | 2007-04-24 10:00:57 AM
Bang on, folks!
Holland, Jennings et al, just underline, yet again, that the only Liberal worth knowing is a convicted and incarcerated liberal.
Now, down to business.
I do not work with "plastic" but if you send me an invoice for a subscription, I shall send you a money order post haste.
Thanks. Keep swinging for the fences.
Posted by: TangoJuliette | 2007-04-24 10:45:34 AM
Liberal Holland and EVERY other liberal involved
need to be given the 'Per' walk in handcuffs
for all of Canada to witness. Crimminal activity
must be severly punished with jail-time.
Posted by: Thomas | 2007-04-24 11:51:02 AM
A public execution would satisfy me, too.
Posted by: obc | 2007-04-24 11:54:24 AM
In a world that is changing at an incredible pace,there is a certain amount of comfort in the fact that some things never do change.
The LPC and it's supporters' endless struggle to comprehend the definition of morality,for one.
I watch and hear and read a fair amount about politics in this country,but there is one question whose answer becomes more distant,not closer with time.
What exactly is the threshold of dishonesty that liberal supporters are willing accept?
When the LPC lost the last election in a sea of scandal and corruption,still more than one in four Canadians endorsed their disgusting behavior.You have to give the LPC some credit....they did manage to convince gullible millions that an old,visionless,corrupt and self-entitled liberal government was better for Canada than an clean,fresh conservative one.
But,what I find truly hysterical more than a year later,is how quickly liberal footsoldiers still pour out of the woodwork to defend the LPC's repeated acts of dishonesty.
Actually,defend isn't the right term,is it?They bring no rational explanations or even evidence to build their partisan defenses,not even an acknowledgement that any wrongful acts were ever committed in the first place.
I can only deduce from their behavior that they ignore these repeated corruption scandals because there is simply not enough time in the day.
After all,there are far too many conservatives out their who have yet to be attacked as a racist or bigot this week.Priorities,don't you know.
I dare ANY LPC supporter to answer this question...
How low must the LPC go before YOU say enough?
Actually,I double-dare you.
Posted by: Canadian Observer | 2007-04-24 12:05:05 PM
Missing link, you and the rest of the yahoos on here just proved my point. I especially like the comment by OPC about a public execution.
And you wonder why the average Canadian still has misgivings about handing power over to you guys.
By the way, I did not vote Liberal or NDP in last election, but I won't make that mistake again.
Posted by: Tommy Canuck | 2007-04-24 1:29:17 PM
Tommy Canuck,
Take your hatred and intolerance for anything not from the realm of the "bat" and stick it.
Your ignorance, and that of people like you are what has brought Canada to what it is today.
If you represent the "average" Canadian then we as a society are finished.
Quite frankly your attitude, and that of your ilk bores the hell out of me.
Posted by: deepblue | 2007-04-24 1:42:21 PM
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