Human rights panel dismisses complaint against Ezra Levant
Last Updated: Thursday, August 7, 2008 | 10:05 AM MT
CBC News
The Alberta Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint against publisher Ezra Levant for reprinting the provocative Danish Muhammad cartoons in his magazine in 2006.
The complaint was filed by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities.
Levant, who has characterized the controversy as a free speech issue, said he was pleased with the outcome and pledged to continue fighting against censorship.
In February 2006, Levant published the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in the now defunct Western Standard, arguing that they were "the central fact in the largest news story of the month."
The series of cartoons, originally published in September 2005 in Denmark and subsequently reprinted in other papers across Europe and around the globe, had already outraged the Muslim world and sparked protests and boycotts in several countries.
"I'm doing something completely normal. I'm publishing the centre of a controversy. That's what news magazines do," Levant told CBC News at the time.
Syed Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, had also launched a complaint against Levant with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, but later withdrew it.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
Latest Calgary News Headlines
- Alberta radar running again after breakdown
- Predicting severe weather patterns is still presenting a challenge for local weather watchers after four Environment Canada Doppler radars stopped working properly this week. more »
- Inquiry rules on death of troubled Alberta teen
- A fatality inquiry into the death of a mentally troubled Alberta teenager is recommending hospitals tighten rules on all outings for psychiatric patients. more »
- Alberta readies 60 new ambulances for service
- Around 60 new ambulances will soon be whizzing across the province thanks to a large purchase by Alberta Health Services. more »
- Suspicious death in S.E. investigated
- A man was found dead in southeast Calgary early Friday morning in what police are calling suspicious circumstances. more »
Top News Headlines
- Aylmer triple stabbing leads to first-degree murder charges

- The estranged partner of a young mother who was stabbed to death along with her parents at their home in Aylmer, Que., has been charged with first-degree murder Friday. more »
- Wildfires, high winds put northeastern Ontario on alert
- It's going to be a tense weekend in northeastern Ontario where strong, shifting winds have been fuelling a forest fire that has blanketed the Timmins area with smoke and ash. more »
- Labrador fire out of control
- A forest fire continues to burn out of control in Happy Valley-Goose Bay today, according to provincial firefighting officials. more »
- The risks and responsibilities of taking on Mt. Everest

- The deaths of five climbers last weekend on Mt. Everest, with more summits underway this weekend, fuels the debate about the risks and responsibilities of high altitude climbing. more »
- Former MLA questions need for Alberta Party
- Inquiry rules on death of troubled Alberta teen
- Alberta radar running again after breakdown
- Police couldn’t stop double fatal crash, judge says
- Alberta readies 60 new ambulances for service
- Suspicious death in S.E. investigated
- TEDxYYC brings passionate speakers to Calgary today
- Calgary woman who killed mother gets 5 years
- Beltline attack leaves man critically injured

