27 January 2006

A Tempest in a Blogspot

Antonia (among others) have fired up the Canadian blogosphere over Chrétien-era functionary, Warren Kinsella's, lawsuit against Mark Bourrie's allegedly libellous post.

Bourrie describes himself as
a doctoral student in Canadian, modern European and media history at the University of Ottawa. I also have an interest in failed states, concepts of reconstruction, treatment of prisoners of war, concepts of surrender and incarceration, security and terrorism issues. ... My thesis is on propaganda and censorship in Canada
His self-identification, juxtaposed with the circumstances and actors in the libel suit, strike me as deliciously ironic, no? But I guess I should point to what McLuhan oft said about the British consideration of libel, upon which the Canadian legal standard (I would guess - IANAL) is built (drawn from Understanding Media: "There is recognition of this matter of effect rather than information in the British idea of libel: 'The greater the truth, the greater the libel.'"
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