A Superior Court judge has ruled that although Ottawa blogger Dr. Dawg was defamed on a conservative message board, the hurtful words fell within the bounds of fair comment in the rough and tumble blogosphere.
Good that heated and ill-thought rants aren’t necessarily defamation.
Bad that blog administrators are responsible for the comments.
Keep the bad in mind, please and thank you.
Via, nold.
So, if I say Obammy is a wee-wee, Kate’s gonna wear it?
Right?
How the hell does that work? Sounds to me like the judge isn’t very savvy on modern technology.
How can anyone defame someone who posts under a pseudonym? You cannot ruin the reputation of a fictional persona, dawg or kat…
WOW! Things are really different in Canada than the U.S. I don’t believe that accusing someone of being “a Taliban supporter” based on his/her stance in an obscure internet blog debate would have been considered slander, PARTICULARLY since the comment is directed at someone who calls them self “Dr Dawg”. And also, if the picture shown in the article is “Dr Dawg”, he is clearly a racist since dawg is ghetto slang and black and ghetto born he is not!
Liberals and progressives …. thin skinned and arrogant.
Really, I don’t understand this at all. What if he had simply called Dr Dawg a fool. Is it still slander? I mean he certainly comes across as a fool. Or what if he called him a troll, as in internet blog troll? Slander?
That this even made it to a court of law makes no sense.
Honestly I couldn’t care less. I no longer accept the authority of the (hork, spit) Canadian judiciary or their lickspittles in the media. I dunno about this Dawg fella – sounds like the kind of fella I like to avoid – but a lot of those leftwing morons ARE Taliban symps or so recklessly stupid and naïve that ya can’t tell the difference… and more than a few are outright traitors.
Sod the lot of them.
You think this is strange David?
CAGW enthusiast and spokesman, Andrew Weaver, won a suit against a Canadian newspaper because an article implied that Weaver equated temperatures to climate change, a no-no apparently because we should all know by now that weather is not climate unless a climate scientist says it is.
Actually David, the only real difference between Canada and US is one of perception. Up here, we tend to be more aware of the loss of our rights while Americans still generally think they’re free. It’s just about what media is feeding you.
Remember the DOJ investigating the guy in Nebraska who put that out-house in that parade with the words “Obama’s Presidential Library?” Remember the same DOJ getting involved in (I think it was) Texas when a school board refused to suspend a student for wearing a shirt that had the Confederate flag on it?
I also used to think all of these crazy things we see in Canada were quirky examples of weak and docile Canadians allowing their rights to be trampled on. Then, about 12 years ago, an older wiser man (with lots of experience on both sides of the border) said to me, “For every crazy example you can find in Canada of individual rights being trampled on in the name of helping out the little guy or the oppressed group, look closer. You’ll find that ALL of them came from the US (usually California) and some Canadian wannabe hippies [hippies are also an American invention] just tried to appropriate it and make it a so-called Canadian value. There are no exceptions.”
A dozen years on and I have found him (so far) to be 100% right. From speech codes to hate-crimes, to Human Rights Tribunals, to consumer protection laws, to onerous requirements on business about their doorknobs (Americans with disabilities act). All “Made in the USA”…no exceptions so far.
Years ago, I had a friend to moved to the US. He was all excited both before and for the first few years after moving about how much freer he would be there. Ironically, it got to a point where we couldn’t speak or email anymore. He had become full-blown paranoid that our communication was subject to monitoring by the US government and he was honestly scared that any political jokes, sarcasm, or criticism could result in a “no-knock warrant.”
Land of the free indeed.
I’m pretty sure the law suite wasn’t about hurt feelings but dr. dawg trying to sue Ron and Connie out of existence. The doog has spread more than his share of leftwing spew across a large amount of band width. Maybe not so surprising none of his targets were so hurt that they had to run to court and file papers.
I am glad they came out of it in at least a tie with that JERK? Can we even say something like that now?
Does this mean I can sue the CBC every time one of their faithful call me a liar or a racist ?
Imagine how fast the Toronto Star and CBC would be sued for “defamation” if like “THAT” worked?
And the STATE now has “THAT” to show they own the internet.
Someone like Ontario’s Premier Kathleen Wynne will make official online cops for all blog website twitter facebook, google/gmails “mandatory”, just like they made it mandatory to have a $100,000 a year cop standing around on every street construction site. We’ll let the State creep in to the internet like we did the phony exhaust checks for our cars before licensing and carbon taxes in BC and California and soon to be Ontario.
Senseless creeping Statism, they can’t get to the revolution fast enough.
IMO
Too bad Dr. Call the Cops Public Sector Union couldn’t lose twice
Hope he’s banned everywhere.
GAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!
The Dr of poetry and his co-horts chant the Progressive mantra “Do as I say not as I do” on a constant basis.Nice to see that a judge doesn’t take him as seriously as the big blowhard takes himself.
I was in Hamilton court witness so many awful cases was heard and treatted by Hamilton I called it MOB judge. Youung lawyers are smart look for dumb and dumbest judge to win thheir cases. It is harder in Toronto because judge likee doctor saw so many ccases and has more experience. But in small city anything can happend and. Nobody care lawyers in hamilton linked with big firm hate torontonian make lots of money judge also make. Money quickly sign order with no trial. Win win for lawyers and MOB judge in hamilton and milton. In certain day in certain room those judge are seating and. Those lawyers knows. Want their order easy signed move case before dumb dumbest judge just sign no question asked!
On room 608 of hamilton court always justice Ramsey seating quickly sign any order we are lucky we do not execution capital punishmennt in canada or people like justice Ramsey signed with no trial not even time for respondant two days before is. Not in hammilton. Such as a old lady came said her husband died of cancer and subsidized. Housing want remaining children and wife after 20 yrs evicted. Lady asked for one. Week to find lawyer justice ramsey you do not need any defence you are out home and pay $3500 legal fees to lawyer of coop old lady said she has no money to pay market rent he said but lawyer of coop won . In hall way I told that lawyer you reaaly bij***ch who charged poor old women to get her old out her husband was member so as remaining. Unless their income was high shhame of yourself call yourself lawye maker other case just got service same day no respond to case justice ramsey asked where order I sign it we do not need her respond fuj** pig justice Ramsey this old fox crrok misconduct abuse process
Bryceman is absolutely right. All bad things come from California. To add to his little list, the worst abominations in public school education, whole word comprehension and new math. The total list of bad things would fill the Domesday Book. The total list of good things could be written on a postage stamp in four-inch block letters. Want more? Obama’s science advisor, John Holdren, UCLA Berkeley. And let’s not forget Nancy Pelosi. I’m an atheist, but O Sweet Saint San Andreas really is a prayer.
Well I for one use to visit Dr. Dawg’s blog a lot. In fact I would sit down over a cup of coffee with him to have a lively discussion. I did invite him one day (I think about eight years ago, but you know how time distorts) to meet me at a Tim’s if he was ever in town. I had a lot of discussion with him on his blog. I think that the ruling was right but I also think that people should really think about what they are typing and just stick to the facts rather than sink to making up cute names (Libranos, Liebrals etc.)
If you want to make a point you weaken it by trying to be cute.
Cheers
I’ve had some run-ins with Barlow in years past. He is farrrrrrr from an innocent bystander!
Sounds to me like we need to do something about our “supreme” Canadian judiciary. I don’t know. Is it time for civil strife?
No surprise Baglow tried to use the state to shut down his opponents. That’s what his kind do. That’s all they can do.
@bryceman:
You will certainly not get me to defend California (the people of). At times a recall a good life there in the 60s and 70s of the last century. And I ask myself, What happened?
On the other hand, I believe you have overstated the case. There is California, and there is Oregon, and there is Washington, and, what the hell, there is British Columbia too. Not that much difference between any of them.
But more to the point, I think and believe that Canada is far more socialistic in it’s approach to governance than any state of the U.S. If anything, in my opinion, these left coast states are simply trying to copy Canada and Europe. It’s a glove that doesn’t fit well for most of us here in the U.S.
Sorry about your paranoid friend … for he indeed was paranoid without good cause. I’m pretty sure that he could have called Dr Dawg a taliban sympathizer without having to go to court for making that allegation.
There are worse slanders (if that’s what it was) against PM Harper printed almost every day in letters to the editor of the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
@David:
I agree with you about the left coast. It’s been 20 years since I lived in coastal BC (where things are the craziest) so I can’t speak about the situation today. But, in my time, the leftist culture was well-known to be the result of US-transplants: aging hippies and draft-dodgers. My only point being that it’s not a Canadian thing…just happening on Canadian soil.
Your perception of Canadian provinces being more socialistic than any US state with regards to governance is a common perception among Americans and even most Canadians. But, it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny in most cases. Canada has no federal Department of Education, Energy, Highways, or even a federal securities regulator (equivalent to the SEC). Autonomous control over things like that are things that US states can only dream of. Provinces of Canada have far more control over such jurisdictions than any US state…which is funny when you consider that the reason they’re called “states” is because they’re supposed to be quasi independent nations. But, the truth is what most Americans argue for when they discuss “state’s rights” are taken for granted by provinces of the Commonwealth countries.
The two areas where I will agree that Canadians have proven more culturally socialistic are with regards to public sector unions and health care (much to our detriment). But even those things were born in the USA…inspired by Medicare, Medicaid, and other “New Deal” policies.
My only point is that, even in those cases where you can correctly point to Canada having a more socialist bent, they were not Canadian inventions. They were cases where Americans came up with it and some Canadian politician said, “If they can get away with it in the US, let’s see how far we can push it here.”
But the perception you and most have is only that: a perception.
“Good that heated and ill-thought rants aren’t necessarily defamation.
Bad that blog administrators are responsible for the comments.
Keep the bad in mind, please and thank you.”
lance and Kate….read both the “decision” AND talked to a lawyer buddy of mine. Neither one of you are in anyway responsible for what is said on this blog. I can call Dr. Dawg a brilliant debater (cough,gag,choke), or a complete commie rectum.
Neither one of you are responsible for what I said……or are we turning into a commie state? Oppppsssss…am I allowed to say that?
I believe Canada started down the slippery slope when Trudeau
allowed the influx of American draft dodgers. Most of these folks
were left leaning, anti war, anti American, well educated types which enabled
them to get into the Canadian education system as educators. Of course once
hired as teachers they proceeded to bring their biases to the classroom and
soon had hundreds of thousands of Canadian youth who had never before been
exposed to socialist teachings fully indoctrinated in socialist philosophy.
So, as I understand it, an extremely leftist person entered an extremely rightist message board, got in an argument, then sued everyone he could?
He knew it was a righty leaning board, entered willingly, engaged in a discussion that he knew would be disruptive, then got upset over being called a name, which he knew would happen.
This happens 1000’s of times every day on both sides of the spectrum, and as a previous poster described it, is an action known as “trolling”. A righty doing the same thing on a leftist board would be treated exactly the same way.
Very surprised the judge did not dismiss this as a nuisance suit.
Davide said: “Very surprised the judge did not dismiss this as a nuisance suit.”
Seriously? Its called “picking sides”. You only have to know which party is in power in the Snivel Service (not the Parliament, that doesn’t affect the Snivels much) to know which side any government employee is going to pick.
I think I can go that far without getting in trouble, legally speaking. Today, anyway. Who knows what new powers and abilities will be “discovered” in the Charter some day?