Defending against an Ezra Levant SLAPP suit

FEBRUARY 14, 2023 UPDATE: If you got to this fundraiser and aren't sure why you should care about it and why it matters, you should read the tediously lengthy blog post that explains it all. And that's why this matters. As before, for every multiple of $500 donated here, I will post a lengthy Twitter thread about current developments at my Twitter account, CanadianCynic, with some never before published information.

FEBRUARY 1, 2023 UPDATE: As it is now a certainty that I will be going to trial against Ezra Levant and his frivolous and meritless defamation lawsuit, I am kicking this fundraiser back into high gear, and the rules are the same as they were some time ago -- for every $500 that ends up here, I will post another development about this action on my Twitter account, CanadianCynic. Given that I have over 11,000 followers on Twitter, it should not be an onerous burden to meet each of those targets to get the next breathless installment, amirite?

OLDER CONTENT:

As many people who follow me on social media will know, back in the summer of 2016, I was sued for defamation by one Ezra Levant of Rebel Media for (along with many, many others) publicly criticizing his Indiegogo-based fundraiser, ostensibly for the Red Cross for Fort McMurray wildfire relief.

Everyone who saw that Statement of Claim agreed that it was obviously a nuisance action and never meant to be taken seriously, but I had no choice but to respond appropriately and file a corresponding Statement of Defence, then slowly start preparing for trial.

It was toward the end of 2016 that I suddenly became aware of Ontario's shiny new anti-SLAPP legislation and, after perusing it carefully, decided that it would be the perfect vehicle for dealing with what was so obviously a frivolous action. To make a long story short, my experience with that anti-SLAPP legislation was an ongoing debacle of silliness and utterly absurd rulings, eventually culminating in my losing that motion, the end result being that, yes, we will be going to trial.

This promises to be an interesting trial for a number of reasons, one in particular being that Ezra sued me for a number of claims I made about his fundraiser that were all eventually shown to be completely true. (You need not take my word for this -- all of this will eventually come out at trial, and you will have the opportunity to see this for yourself.)

The unfortunate aspect of losing the anti-SLAPP motion is that, even if I win resoundingly at trial, that will not affect in any way the ruling on the motion in terms of legal fees; hence, the purpose of this fundraiser. So as I'm digging in for the long haul and the eventual trial, people are more than welcome to back me up because there is little possibility of settling and, quite frankly, I am not in the mood to back down. And one last point.

In exchange for your financial support, I have every intention of, on a regular basis, reporting on every aspect of this case, just as I did before. I am not simply going to accept support and give you nothing in return; no, I'm going to lay out this entire case from the beginning so you can truly appreciate what has been happening and you can follow along.

And, finally, in a bit of a twist, I am not simply going to crowdfund this case; I am going to crowdsource it as well, and by that I mean that, while I'm fairly confident I have all the evidence I need, there might be times where I might want a particular example of something and, rather than scour the Intertoobz for it, I will throw out a public challenge for someone to track it down. In short, you folks won't just be observers -- you might get the chance to actively participate; yes, you might actually be getting homework.

In any event, I have no intention of rolling over, and you folks are invited to come along for the ride. At the very least, I think I can guarantee it won't be boring.

P.S. Tune in tomorrow for just a taste of what I will be publishing over time. And check back regularly as I will be laying out the sordid details of this silliness in some detail.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Here's how this fundraiser is going to work. For every $500 that comes in, I will post another update or homework assignment. I can promise you that each one of those will be, in turn, enlightening, educational, head-scratching or downright infuriating, but every one will be worth reading. So them's the rules -- you keep donating, I keep writing. Sound fair?