Statement regarding Ezra Levant
The following is a statement from Mayor Naheed Nenshi:
On Sunday, Sun News Media personality Ezra Levant asked me a number of questions on Twitter, asking about the City’s hiring of environmental consultants on energy efficiency. I answered his basic questions (no, I don't know the people he claims I do; no, I am not part of a secret conspiracy; no, I was not involved in awarding the contract he's desperately trying to tie me to since it was a decision made before I was mayor) and then pointed out that he was not interested in actually getting the answers, since his questions were leading.
The classic semantic argument for a leading question is “when did you stop beating your wife?” Since Mr. Levant was my debating partner for many years and did attend law school, I know that he knows what this phrase means. In fact, I've heard him use that line in many debates himself. He now is trying to make an issue of my use of that phrase.
If Mr. Levant or anyone else was truly offended by my use of this phrase, of course I apologize.
It is worth noting that Mr. Levant has a long history of misleading his viewers and readers about my record. For example, last year he published a column which was based on a number of claims that were not true. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to address Mr. Levant's misleading journalism with his employer, Sun Media.
Attached is a letter I sent to Sun Media where I asked them to address the misrepresentations in one of Mr. Levant's column. To date, Sun Media has refused to take any action and has, in fact, taken the extraordinary position that it is acceptable for their columnists to invent facts on the basis that they are columnists and not journalists.
Letter from Mayor Nenshi to Calgary Sun publisher - January 10 2012
On Sunday, Sun News Media personality Ezra Levant asked me a number of questions on Twitter, asking about the City’s hiring of environmental consultants on energy efficiency. I answered his basic questions (no, I don't know the people he claims I do; no, I am not part of a secret conspiracy; no, I was not involved in awarding the contract he's desperately trying to tie me to since it was a decision made before I was mayor) and then pointed out that he was not interested in actually getting the answers, since his questions were leading.
The classic semantic argument for a leading question is “when did you stop beating your wife?” Since Mr. Levant was my debating partner for many years and did attend law school, I know that he knows what this phrase means. In fact, I've heard him use that line in many debates himself. He now is trying to make an issue of my use of that phrase.
If Mr. Levant or anyone else was truly offended by my use of this phrase, of course I apologize.
It is worth noting that Mr. Levant has a long history of misleading his viewers and readers about my record. For example, last year he published a column which was based on a number of claims that were not true. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to address Mr. Levant's misleading journalism with his employer, Sun Media.
Attached is a letter I sent to Sun Media where I asked them to address the misrepresentations in one of Mr. Levant's column. To date, Sun Media has refused to take any action and has, in fact, taken the extraordinary position that it is acceptable for their columnists to invent facts on the basis that they are columnists and not journalists.
Letter from Mayor Nenshi to Calgary Sun publisher - January 10 2012
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