Cartoon complaint update

Here are three documents regarding the current state of the Alberta Human Rights Commission's prosecution of me for printing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed two years ago.

A few weeks ago, Syed Soharwardy said he was going to drop his complaint against me. He finally did so, as confirmed in this letter I received yesterday.

Basically, Soharwardy dinged Alberta taxpayers for close to $500,000 to prosecute his complaint, but when he started to feel the heat in public reaction -- he hated being called a censor and a fascist -- he walked away. In a real court of law, he'd be on the hook for everyone's time and money, as well as paying his own way. In this kangaroo court, he bears no costs at all -- the commission's expenses are foisted on Alberta taxpayers, and I'm left holding the bag on close to $100,000 in legal bills.

I'm not off the hook, of course. An identical complaint was filed by Soharwardy's friends at the Edmonton Muslim Council. So the case proceeds against me still.

But, as I mentioned before, I'm not going to let Soharwardy -- or the commission -- off the hook. It's contrary to our Canadian values of rule of law and natural justice to let some creep abuse the system for two years, and then all but admit it was all just an attempt to punish me politically.

I've written before that I intend to file a Statement of Claim -- in a real court -- against Soharwardy for the tort of abuse of process. I haven't yet decided whether to sue the Edmonton Muslim Council or even the commission itself (likely under a related tort, called abuse of office). The commission's response to my access to information request will help me decide.

Going on the offensive isn't just about recouping my enormous legal costs. It's about having real courts, following real Canadian laws, steeped in real Canadian values, teaching a moral lesson to those who would try to corrupt our Canadian system with Saudi values of censorship and intolerance of dissent. And, of course, pour encourager les autres.