News

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   In Victoria, the B.C. legislature heard the first reading of Bill 2 — the Protection of Public Participation Act — on February 13, 2019. The bill, which was introduced by Attorney General David Eby, seeks to curtail costly and meritless lawsuits that stifle public debate.

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   This year, February 14 is the 30th anniversary of the day when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran ordered the death of author Salman Rushdie and his publishing associates for producing The Satanic Verses. REPORTAGE On March 7, 1989, Eric Malling of The Fifth Estate reported the controversy.

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   In January 2019, the publisher and editor of Toronto’s Your Ward News were convicted in the Ontario Court of Justice of wilfully promoting hatred against Jews and women. Two Jewish writers offer different opinions about the ruling. COMMENTARY

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   Vic Fedeli, the Ontario government’s minister of finance, is suing Patrick Brown, the former leader of Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives, and his book publisher for defamation. Mr. Fedeli objects to statements in Mr. Brown’s Takedown: The Attempted Political Assassination of Patrick Brown. He is seeking $8 million.

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   In Quebec, the Montreal Gazette has spiked one of Terry Mosher’s editorial cartoons. The cartoon associates the Coalition Avenir Québec with the Ku Klux Klan. REPORTAGE Shawn Lyons of CBC Radio reports:

News Reports and Commentary Selected by Franklin Carter of the Book and Periodical Council’s Freedom of Expression Committee   B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish organization, has asked the Canada Revenue Agency to revoke the charitable status of the Islamic Society of York Region (ISYR) in Ontario. The ISYR is headed by Zafar Bangash.