Ezra Levant

Ezra Levant (born 1972) is a Canadian blogger, author, journalist, lawyer and conservative political activist. He is the former publisher of the "Western Standard" magazine.

Family and early life

Born in Calgary, Levant holds a commerce degree from the University of Calgary and a law degree from the University of Alberta. His great-grandfather immigrated to Canada in 1903 from Russia and paid $5 for 65 hectares of land to establish a homestead near Drumheller, Alberta. Levant grew up in a suburb of Calgary and attended a Jewish day school in his childhood before transferring to a public junior high school. Levant's father, Marvin, worked in Saskatchewan during the doctor's strike against the introduction of the country's first system of Medicare and sided with the doctors. Ezra Levant campaigned for the Reform Party of Canada as a teenager and joined it as a university student.Steed, Judy, "Reform's unlikely young Turk Snack Packer Levant has made question period a party feast", November 14, 1998]

In 1994, he was featured in a "Globe and Mail" article on young neoconservatives after accusing the University of Alberta of racism for instituting an affirmative action program of hiring women and aboriginal professors. His actions outraged aboriginal law students, feminists and a number of professors and he was called to a meeting with the assistant dean who advised him of the university's non-academic code of conduct and defamation laws. As head of the University of Alberta's speakers committee, Levant flew in controversial lawyer Doug Christie, best known for his advocacy in defence of Holocaust deniers and accused Nazi war criminals, for a debate, against Thomas Kuttner, a Jewish lawyer from the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. Levant gained a reputation as the university's leading neoconservative - he was invited to write a guest column for the "Edmonton Journal" and interviewed on television. [Cerentig, Miro, "Neo-cons young bucks of the new right: In the sixties, the rallying cry for young activists was free love. Now it's free markets", "Globe and Mail", February 5, 1994] He spent the summer of 1994 in Washington, D.C., in an internship arranged by the libertarian Charles G. Koch Foundation Summer Fellow Program. He worked for the Fraser Institute in 1995, writing "Youthquake", which argued for smaller government, including privatization of the Canada Pension Plan. Levant saw "youthquake", the term he used to describe what he identified as a conservative youth movement of the 1990s, as similar to the 1960s civil rights movement except that instead of being enslaved by racism, his generation was "enslaved by debt"Klein, Naomi, "It's the 'Youth for Fraser Institute' movement", "Toronto Star", November 25, 1995] and, in order to liberate itself, society needed to dismantle elements such as trade unions, the minimum wage, universal health care, subsidized tuition and public pension plans.

Views on Quebec

Levant favoured Quebec separatism and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a "Calgary Sun" column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory" [Andre, Harvie, "Party organizer's views don't exemplify tolerance", "Financial Post", June 11, 1997] Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians; and would clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.Walker, William, "Manning's 'backroom boy' raises eyebrows Albertan once wanted Quebec to leave Canada", "Toronto Star", September 21, 1997]

In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada making it "free from Quebec's demands."

Uniting the right

In 1996, Levant worked with David Frum to organize the "Winds of Change" conference in Calgary, an early attempt to encourage the Reform Party of Canada and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to merge so that a united rightwing party could defeat the Liberal Party of Canada in the subsequent election. [Canadian Press, "Reform, Tories should merge, right-wing group says", "Globe and Mail", May 15, 1996] While unsuccessful, the conference anticipated future attempts at a Unite the Right movement which ultimately led to the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Levant supported Preston Manning's United Alternative initiative in 1999, a more advanced attempt to unite the country's conservative movementLaghi, Brian and Mahoney, Jill, "Spectre of party's demise raises storm of dissent", "Globe and Mail", May 3, 1999] and was one of the leaders of the movement to create the Canadian Alliance as an attempt to broaden the party's base."National Post editorial writer returns to Canadian Alliance fold", "Canadian Press", February 14, 2001]

Political organizer and aide

An active political organizer in the Reform Party, Levant guided the successful attempts by Rahim Jaffer and Rob Anders to win party nominations. [Alberts, Sheldon, "New rebels on the right fight for Reform", "Hamilton Spectator", February 8, 1997]

In 1997, he went to Ottawa to work for the Reform Party, becoming a parliamentary aide to party leader Preston Manning and being put in charge of Question Period strategy. Levant wrote a Reform Party fundraising letter in 1998 in which he called Alberta Progressive Conservative Senator Ron Ghitter lazy and un-Albertan. Ghitter sued and in 2000, Levant and Canadian Alliance MP Rob Anders issued a formal apology and also made an undisclosed payment to settle the suit. [McCarthy, Shawn, "Tory ex-senator wins apology in libel suit", "Globe and Mail", April 11, 2000]

In early 1999, Levant left Ottawa to join the editorial board of the fledgling "National Post" newspaper in Toronto. [National Notebook, "Globe and Mail", March 27, 1999] A close friend of Stockwell Day's son Logan, Levant proclaimed himself a "Stockaholic" and supported the elder Day in his successful attempt to defeat Reform Party leader Preston Manning for the leadership of the new Canadian Alliance. In February 2001, he returned to Ottawa as communications director to Day. ["Day-Staff Change", "Canadian Press", February 14, 2001] In May of that year he resigned after leaking, to the "National Post", a letter that he sent to dissident MP Chuck Strahl in which he threatened to sue over Strahl's criticisms of his office. ["Canada's rightist opposition takes another hit", '"Reuters", May 17, 2001] [Alberts, Sheldon, "Day aides threaten to sue Strahl: Breakaway MP says he won't apologize for 'dishonest' remark", "National Post", May 17, 2001] [Winsor, Hugh, "The meaning of Levant's departure", "Globe and Mail", May 18, 2001]

Candidacy and resignation

Later in 2001, Levant returned to Calgary to practice law. By February 2002, he won the Canadian Alliance party nomination for the riding of Calgary Southwest, ["CA nominates candidate", "Calgary Herald", January 27, 2002] but stepped aside after public pressure so that new party leader Stephen Harper could run there in a 2002 by-election. When the by-election was called, Levant, who said he spent over $150,000 to gain the nomination, [Alberts, Sheldon, "Internal battle could ensue for Manning's old riding: Harper may want to run in by-election, displace nominee", "National Post", February 27, 2002] announced on March 28th that he would not step aside.Fife, Robert and Paraskevas, Joe, "PM to test Harper with by-election: New Alliance leader in standoff with party activist over riding", "National Post", March 23, 2002] [Laghi, Brian and Walton, Dawn, "Defiant Levant refuses to step aside for Harper", "Globe and Mail", March 28, 2002] Later that night, however, he relented after widespread pressure from the party and accusations that he was putting himself ahead of the party. [Elliott, Louise, "Calgary candidate steps aside to allow Alliance leader to contest byelection", "Canadian Press", March 29, 2002]

Publishing

In 2004 Levant co-founded the "Western Standard", a national magazine with an emphasis on Western Canada, political conservatism, and libertarianism. [Levant, Ezra, "Western Standard will be antidote to Maclean's, the CBC", "National Post", January 4, 2004] In October 2007 the magazine ended its print-run due to its unprofitability and became an exclusively online publication. [Scott, Norvall, "Western Standard's print edition goes under; Financial pressures force publisher of Calgary-based conservative magazine to discontinue its hard-copy format", "Globe and Mail", October 9, 2007] Levant sold the publication's remaining assets to Matthew Johnson. ["Website sorry for anti-Islamic remarks", "Calgary Herald" December 22, 2007]

A column by Levant appeared in the "Calgary Sun" on and off, over a ten year period, until October 2007 when the paper dropped the columnist because of an "internal personnel decision." [Klaszus, Jeremy, [http://ffwdweekly.com/article/news-views/news/ezra-levant-column-dumped-calgary-sun/ "Ezra Levant column dumped by Calgary Sun"] ,j "Fast Forward Weekly", November 1, 2007] He continues to write occasionally for the "National Post".

Levant has written three non-fiction books: "Youthquake" (1996, ISBN 0889751676), "Fight Kyoto" (2002, ISBN 1553065468), and "The War On Fun" (2005, ISBN 0973954108).

Human Rights complaint

On February 14 2006 the "Western Standard" drew the attention of the Muslim community by reprinting the controversial editorial cartoons depicting Muhammad, the founder of Islam. [Woodard, Joe, "Prophet cartoons come to Calgary: Publishers defend move as free speech", "Calgary Herald", February 11, 2006]

Levant republished the Muhammed cartoons on his website in January 2008 on the same day he appeared before a hearing of the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission investigating a complaint by Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, and the Edmonton Muslim Council about Levant's earlier publication of the cartoon. Additionally, Sowharwardy has filed a complaint with Calgary police about Levant saying he fears for his safety because of "lies" he says Levant has been spreading about him claiming Levant is inciting hatred. Police said they were actively investigating the complaint.Bonnell, Keith, [http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=232073 "Defiant Levant Republishes Cartoons"] , "National Post", January 12, 2008] .

Levant was called before the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission and asked to respond to the complaint. At the demand of Levant and his lawyers, he was allowed to videotape his interview with Shirley McGovern, a human rights investigator with the commission. The videos of his interview before the Alberta Human Rights Commission were published on YouTube by Levant [ [http://www.youtube.com/EzraILevant YouTube, EzraILevant's Channel] ] , which received a notable amount of interest from bloggers and internet users, spending several days in the top ten viewed videos on YouTube. The videos have been collectively viewed more than half-a-million times, and excerpts of the audio and video been featured by many notable radio and television programs. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n3SdV2cwn4 YouTube - I don't answer to the state ] ] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFXJaEYyYjY YouTube - The real violence in Edmonton ] ] Soharwardy's complaint was ultimately withdrawn [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080215.wcomment0215/BNStory/National/home globeandmail.com: Why I'm withdrawing my human rights complaint against Ezra Levant ] ] and the police investigation ended; however the identical complaint by the Edmonton Muslim Council proceeded. The complaint was dismissed by the Commission on August 5th, 2008.

The timing of the Levant case was notable, in that it coincided with a high-profile case considered by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The case was initiated by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean's Magazine for the printing of material they alleged was also discriminatory towards Muslims.

Levant and several other conservative bloggers, as well as the "National Post", are being sued for libel by lawyer Richard Warman as a result of comments made about the lawyer in relation to human rights complaints he has initiated. [Brownlee, Karen, [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=60849e8f-98d9-43c5-9a8c-775a48a3a72b&k=13709 "Sask. blogger caught in legal bind"] , "Ottawa Citizen", April 21, 2008]

In July 2008, Levant was invited to be an expert witness before the U.S. Congress's Human Rights Caucus,cn|date=September 2008 where he spoke about the tribunals.

upport and criticism

Levant has been lauded by a wide-ranging group of Canadian citizens, particularly libertarians and free speech advocates [ [http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/02/01/the-national-post-editorial-board-alberta-s-censorship-problem.aspx The National Post Editorial Board: Alberta's censorship problem - Full Comment ] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=b46a3661-7f67-4c9d-9919-3f34578a5203 It's time our most basic right became an election issue ] ] [ [http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/cityplus/story.html?id=449e1994-5d1d-4808-abca-aa7b1f096f66 Defence of free speech must be absolute: advocate ] ] . His case has attracted the attention of organizations such as PEN Canada [ [http://www.pencanada.ca/media/PEN%20Canada%20-%20cartoons.pdf Ezra Levant] ] , the Canadian Association of Journalists [ [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2008/22/c5147.html CNW Group | CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS | CAJ urges changes to human rights laws ] ] , Egale Canada [ [http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?lang=E&menu=12&item=1245 Egale Canada > Freedom for all means freedom for each ] ] , and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association [ [http://www.ccla.org/2008-02-06%20Free%20Speech%20and%20Human%20Rights.pdf FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND HUMAN RIGHTS] ] — all of which have called for reform of the commissions.

Proponents of the Human Rights Commissions have also asserted their belief, that the commissions have done well in promoting social justice in Canada, and the efforts by both Levant and Mark Steyn to undermine them, could have negative effects for all Canadians [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080121.wcomment0122/CommentStory/National/ globeandmail.com: Attacking human rights commissions attacks us all ] ] .

Levant's case has been featured on Glenn Beck's show on CNN [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E0wuJvFo1k YouTube - Ezra Levant on Glenn Beck] ] .

Awards

In 1992, when he was a University of Calgary student, Levant's two person team won the "best debating" category in the Intercollegiate Business Competition held at Queen's University. [Haggert, Scott, "Top students spar in annual business match", "Financial Post", January 14, 1992]

References

External links

* [http://www.ezralevant.com Ezra Levant's blog]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=EzraILevant YouTube Account]