Oct 10
28
Will homosexual politician get away with possibly defamatory slur?
National Post – October 28, 2010
Editorial: Who’s the real bigot?
Glen Murray, the former mayor of Winnipeg who now serves as Research and Innovation Minister in Ontario’s provincial Liberal government, has claimed in the past that, as a gay man, he has suffered the pain and humiliation of discrimination. If that is true – and we have no reason to doubt it – then he, above all people, should know to refrain from prejudging others and making unsubstantiated allegations of bigotry against them.
On the eve of Toronto’s mayoral election, Mr. Murray tweeted followers regarding the eventual winner, right-of-centre candidate Rob Ford, warning that: “If u vote Ford u r voting for bigotry.” He also repeated a tweet from a supporter who insisted that “Ford, [Tim] Hudak and [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper [are] the trifecta of Republican-style, right-wing ignorance and bigotry.” (Mr. Hudak is the leader of Ontario’s Conservative party.) Mr. Murray offered no proof of Mr Ford’s bigotry. Nor has anyone else. Mr. Ford made no mention during the campaign of the sexual orientation of George Smitherman, a former Ontario Cabinet minister who happens to be gay. Mr. Ford has in the past expressed reservations about gay marriage and recently has opined that some immigrants have trouble assimilating. But neither of these are bigoted opinions. Both views, in fact, are shared by millions of mainstream Canadians.
Mr. Murray has apologized. On Tuesday, he issued a written statement claiming, “I do not believe Rob Ford or Stephen Harper or Tim Hudak are bigots. I regret tweeting a message that said otherwise, and am sorry that I did.” But this apology was undone by his subsequent contention that the three right-of-centre politicians he criticized all routinely engage in “fear tactics” against gay men. His proof? Signs denigrating Mr. Smitherman’s sexual orientation surfaced in the final week of Toronto’s mayor’s race. But that fact proves nothing. Mr. Ford says he wasn’t behind the homophobic posters, and (correctly) condemned them as “absolutely wrong.” That didn’t stop Mr. Murray from going on to demand that Mr. Hudak “root out any of those working in his ranks who would try to exploit hatred with smear tactics.”
Let’s see if we get this straight: Mr. Murray launches a baseless, and possibly defamatory, accusation of bigotry against Mr. Ford. When it is pointed out that the charge is false, Mr. Murray retreats, but then reiterates the charge using different language. In addition, he issues fresh demands to launch a witch hunt in search of the non-existent bigots that he originally conjured out of his own imagination.
Read “Glen Murray is one sorry twit” here.