Ezra Levant

I would try and be as reasonable as possible. I talked to a lot of Muslim folks, and I tried to say, no, please understand why this was. I was trying to appeal to their reason. But when the government asks you the same question, you can't answer in the same way. Because the government is not asking out of curiosity or out of intellectual growth. They're asking because something turns on it.

I would try and be as reasonable as possible. I talked to a lot of Muslim folks, and I tried to say, no, please understand why this was. I was trying to appeal to their reason. But when the government asks you the same question, you can't answer in the same way. Because the government is not asking out of curiosity or out of intellectual growth. They're asking because something turns on it.

Punishment turns on it. If you don't appease them and say the right answer, you will be punished. And so you can't answer the same way. And so I remember what I said. I said... because it's my bloody right to do so. And I'm not trying to convince you and wiggle through. I want my maximum freedom. And I recorded this on this video camera and I went home that day

Punishment turns on it. If you don't appease them and say the right answer, you will be punished. And so you can't answer the same way. And so I remember what I said. I said... because it's my bloody right to do so. And I'm not trying to convince you and wiggle through. I want my maximum freedom. And I recorded this on this video camera and I went home that day

Punishment turns on it. If you don't appease them and say the right answer, you will be punished. And so you can't answer the same way. And so I remember what I said. I said... because it's my bloody right to do so. And I'm not trying to convince you and wiggle through. I want my maximum freedom. And I recorded this on this video camera and I went home that day

And I managed somehow to edit that video I'd never done in my life. And I set up a YouTube account. I'd never done that in my life. This was when YouTube was pretty new. There was no social media back then. There was no Facebook, no Twitter or anything like that.

And I managed somehow to edit that video I'd never done in my life. And I set up a YouTube account. I'd never done that in my life. This was when YouTube was pretty new. There was no social media back then. There was no Facebook, no Twitter or anything like that.

And I managed somehow to edit that video I'd never done in my life. And I set up a YouTube account. I'd never done that in my life. This was when YouTube was pretty new. There was no social media back then. There was no Facebook, no Twitter or anything like that.

And I uploaded the video of my interrogation because I knew no one would believe me if I said a magazine publisher was just grilled for one hour about my political and religious views for publishing this. Crucial case. And people, that went viral.

And I uploaded the video of my interrogation because I knew no one would believe me if I said a magazine publisher was just grilled for one hour about my political and religious views for publishing this. Crucial case. And people, that went viral.

And I uploaded the video of my interrogation because I knew no one would believe me if I said a magazine publisher was just grilled for one hour about my political and religious views for publishing this. Crucial case. And people, that went viral.

The asymmetry. There were more than a dozen bureaucrats and lawyers for the Alberta Human Rights Commission coming for me. And the complainant, this radical imam, didn't have to pay a cent. And his complaint was so laughable, he cited as legal basis, he was citing passages from the Quran. He said he personally was a descendant of Muhammad and I had offended him.

The asymmetry. There were more than a dozen bureaucrats and lawyers for the Alberta Human Rights Commission coming for me. And the complainant, this radical imam, didn't have to pay a cent. And his complaint was so laughable, he cited as legal basis, he was citing passages from the Quran. He said he personally was a descendant of Muhammad and I had offended him.

The asymmetry. There were more than a dozen bureaucrats and lawyers for the Alberta Human Rights Commission coming for me. And the complainant, this radical imam, didn't have to pay a cent. And his complaint was so laughable, he cited as legal basis, he was citing passages from the Quran. He said he personally was a descendant of Muhammad and I had offended him.

And I thought, oh, for sure this is going to be thrown out. No, it was not. A dozen people, I mean, human rights is the middle name of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They were anything but. I would have been flattened. I would have been flattened. But the internet saved me. Blogging was a thing back then. And PayPal was new. So that's how I funded my lawyer.

And I thought, oh, for sure this is going to be thrown out. No, it was not. A dozen people, I mean, human rights is the middle name of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They were anything but. I would have been flattened. I would have been flattened. But the internet saved me. Blogging was a thing back then. And PayPal was new. So that's how I funded my lawyer.

And I thought, oh, for sure this is going to be thrown out. No, it was not. A dozen people, I mean, human rights is the middle name of the Alberta Human Rights Commission. They were anything but. I would have been flattened. I would have been flattened. But the internet saved me. Blogging was a thing back then. And PayPal was new. So that's how I funded my lawyer.

The Western Standard Magazine came to an end, as all magazines sort of did around then. So I didn't have the dough to fight this. Do you know what it cost you? You know what? It was close to $100,000. And that's in 2008.

The Western Standard Magazine came to an end, as all magazines sort of did around then. So I didn't have the dough to fight this. Do you know what it cost you? You know what? It was close to $100,000. And that's in 2008.

The Western Standard Magazine came to an end, as all magazines sort of did around then. So I didn't have the dough to fight this. Do you know what it cost you? You know what? It was close to $100,000. And that's in 2008.