Ezra Levant, former publisher of Canada’s Western Standard, was defiant before going into a meeting with an officer of the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission. To mark the occasion, he reproduced the notorious Danish cartoons on his personal website. It was for printing these when they originally appeared in Denmark that the complaint against him was made. Syed Soharwardy, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, filed the complaint against him. In December, Matthew Johnston, the new owner of the Western Standard, apologized for the printing of the cartoons in the paper, saying that he personally “took offense.” Johnston accepted an invitation to visit Soharwardy’s mosque. Following the hearing, the Commission can dismiss the complaint, submit it to an arbitrator, or hold a full hearing on it. Levant, meanwhile, argues that he is simply exercising his freedom of expression. “I don’t need to be reasonable,” he said. Nor does he feel sorry for publishing the cartoons. “I have not done anything wrong,” he contended.
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