Human rights panel dismisses complaint against Ezra Levant
Last Updated: Thursday, August 7, 2008 | 12:05 PM ET
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
Top News Headlines
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- The Ontario government must curtail its spending with the kind of cuts not seen since the Mike Harris years, according to a report by former TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond. more »
- Children of immigrants challenged at school, home
- By 2016, foreign-born youth and Canadian-born youth from immigrant families will make up a quarter of the country's population, according to predictions by the Canadian Council on Social Development. As their numbers grow, more attention is being paid to their successes and failures. more »
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
- Two teenagers cried as they testified at the trial of a B.C. woman who was charged after a teen died while her son was hosting a party at her house in 2008. more »
- Whitney Houston funeral to be livestreamed
- Whitney Houston's funeral will be livestreamed, to satisfy the desire of fans to grieve alongside family members at the Saturday memorial. more »
Latest Canada News Headlines
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
- Two teenagers cried as they testified at the trial of a B.C. woman who was charged after a teen died while her son was hosting a party at her house in 2008. more »
- 2 NDP MPs back final Commons vote to kill gun registry
- Two NDP MPs broke party ranks to vote with the government in the final House of Commons vote on scrapping the long-gun registry. more »
- Children of immigrants challenged at school, home
- By 2016, foreign-born youth and Canadian-born youth from immigrant families will make up a quarter of the country's population, according to predictions by the Canadian Council on Social Development. As their numbers grow, more attention is being paid to their successes and failures. more »
- Half of Canadians report being bullied as youth
- Half of Canadian adults polled say they were bullied as children or teenagers — and 62 per cent of those bullied say having an adult mentor would have helped them cope. more »
The National
The Current
- Abortion and Conservative Caucus Feb. 15, 2012 3:21 PM The return of a debate that may have lost some of its explosive power, but may still be ready to detonate in Prime Minister Harper's back benches.
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests
- 2 NDP MPs back final Commons vote to kill gun registry
- Honduras prison fire kills hundreds
- Canadian housing market cools in January
- Bodyguard hired for bully victim in Fredericton
- Legalize pot, say former B.C. attorneys general
- Russians' abusive plane tirade to cost them $19K
