Angry in the Great White North
A blogger gets sued
Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 05:38 PM

Read other posts by Steve Janke published by the National Post
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NealeNews reports a blogger being sued by Warren Kinsella.

Time for me to ride in to the rescue? Sorry, but not this time.

From OttawaWatch:

Actually, the Liberal lobbyist and self-styled political asskicker wants $600,000. Should I write him a cheque or fight this thing? Hmm... write a cheque... fight this thing???

Um, I think I'll fight it.

Looks like we're going to court, folks. Should be an interesting ride.

First off, you've got more than those two options.

My advice? Contact Warren's lawyers, and apologize for your mistake.

Yes, you stepped into it:

Mr. Bourrie's entry on Ottawa Watch at 4:15 a.m. on January 14, 2006 read, in part:

And they remember Kinsella was executive assistant to Pulis [sic] Works minister (sic] David "I'm entitled to my entitlements" Dingwall. Kinsella was the guy who foisted Chuck Guite on the bureaucracy. He was a key actor in the sponsorship kickback scandal. And that scandal is about half the reason Paul Martin is on the skids.

Key actor? Unindicted co-conspirator? The Smoking Man?

I think bloggers forget that for a lot of people, blogs are hard news sources. They aren't, of course, but that perception means that if you call someone a "key actor", people are going to walk away with the idea that this person ran the program in some nefarious way.

Where's the link to a source that claims Kinsella are a "key actor" in some way, shape, or form? The Gomery Report said the Kinsella memo described the structure of the program (as I recall), but as any engineer knows, the best design in the world will not protect you against lousy implementation.

I don't see where Kinsella were ever involved in the implementation or management of the program. The program started two years after he left government, for crying out loud.

Warren Kinsella is a lawyer, people. That means he can lose his means of feeding his four kids just on the rumour that he was responsible in some way for something illegal.

Is he thin-skinned? I don't think so. But this sort of thing is serious business.

Is he greedy? I don't think so. The $600,000 is just to get your attention. All he really wants, I'd guess, is a very public correction. Apparently, he wants it very badly. And since it looks like Ottawa Watch was sloppy in the way he characterized things, a correction is the least he can do.

If he offers one quickly, the odds are better that that is all he'll have to do.

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