A libel case against journalists Jonathan Kay and Barbara Kay was dismissed by an Ottawa judge. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network (CAHN), whose programs had previously been funded by the government, launched the complaint.
Richard Warman, a member of the organization’s board, filed the lawsuit in 2019. Warman allegedly asserted that the two defendants connected the group to Antifa, according to Jonathan Kay.
Johnathan Kay posted photos on Twitter of the judges ruling and conclusion the “the evidence disclosed that CAHN did in fact assist Antifa and that movement has been violent.”
“The Kays submission, which I accept, is that a human rights network like CAHN arguably (except in the most extreme circumstances) should not support a violent movement, and to do so, to most reasonable overseers, would not be a “good look.”
“While Warman is well know as a righteous crusader against white supremacy and right-wing racist hate and has been recognized and appropriately lauded for his work, he is also a controversial figure and I accept the evidence of the Kays that he has used litigation to silence or intimidate those he sees as his critics, or who oppose his methods of prosecuting hate groups,” the court document later added.
Jonathan Kay stated that “litigating this to a conclusion was expensive and time-consuming,” adding that he felt it was important because the organisation had previously received a government grant, noting that the “same ‘anti-racism program used to cash out Laith Marouf.”
CAHN says on its website that it was “previously the recipient of a grant from the Anti-Racism Action Program. That grant period ended in March 2022. The Canadian Anti-Hate Network is not currently receiving any government funds.”
The Canadian Heritage organization, where Marouf served as a senior consultant and made several anti-Semitic comments on social media, had received funding from the same program.
Jonathan Kay recalled the trial, calling it “surreal” and included “such bizarre claims as that I was ‘malicious to human rights.'” In court, he said, “I was required to explain the plot of the Seinfeld episode that’s at the root of ‘Del Boca’ Bernie Farber’s nickname.”
“played a cameo role. What happened to him is basically Exhibit A in what antifa is all about. (That’s why, even here in Canada, so many people have Ngo Derangement Syndrome: The act of beating him up was pretty much the death knell on the group’s legitimacy).”
“Jonathan referred to a CAHN article by the CEO Balgord dated September 20, 2017, as an apologist tract for Antifa, describing the need for ‘physical disruption to get their message across,” the court document stated.
“A Quillette article (Jonathan was an editor) about Columbia’s Journalism dated June 18, 2019, described Antifa as violent and advocating to effect change. The article described what happened to Andy Ngo, a friend of Jonathan’s, who was a 5’2″ gay Vietnamese conservative journalist covering Antifa activity in Portland Oregon when he was badly beaten by Antifa members, described by Jonathan as ‘thugs,” the document continued.
“Jonathan described numerous instances where Antifa used intimidation, violence and generally mimicked fascist group activities in Portland, Oregon, and Hamilton Ontario and, for example, screamed at an elderly woman at a town hall event in October 2019, where they tried to block a speaker, Maxime Bernier, and called her ‘Nazi scum,'” it added.
Evan Balgord, the executive director of CAHN, was grilled about the untrue statement at a Commons public safety committee meeting in April.
“Can you explain why the (chair) of your organization was claiming that this photo was being circulated at the protest when in fact it was a photo from a completely different country weeks before the protest?” asked Conservative MP Dane Lloyd.
“Bernie was not aware that the photo itself was taken from an American source,” claimed Balgord.
“What the person was trying to communicate to our organization was that they saw the same flyer but they had attached the photo from the states so it was our error in not communicating that more clearly.”
