02.25.2013 07:28 AM

The lawyer to the damned

Now that it’s public, I suppose I can comment on Douglas H. Christie’s newest challenge. Having written an entire chapter about him in Web of Hate, I certainly know enough about him.

Over nearly three decades, I’ve faced off against him in court, and I’ve written about him extensively as a journalist. But he still remains a mystery to me.

In his faith, and mine, you don’t speak ill of the dead or the dying. So I won’t.

I’ll simply say nothing.

13 Comments

  1. steve says:

    Speaking of the sounds of silence, we have two Senators who have filed offical documents stating unequivocally they are not residents of Ontario. Yet they have OHIP cards, and in the case of Mike Duffy seem to be ringing up some big bills. Why is this not considered fraud?

  2. Ron Unruh says:

    Perhaps the charity component to Doug Christie’s legal career would shed light on the man who seems to be a mystery to some. Besides being the defender of the hated whose alleged crimes have been hatred of others, Doug has been a large-hearted counsel to such people as Paul and Zabeth Bayne, whose story was taken up by the Fifth Estate when after four years of struggle with the B.C. Ministry of Children, the courts returned their four children to them. The family had lost their home and other resources on previous futile legal exercises and Mr. Christie came along, responded to their need in a most gracious manner, and did an admirable, spirited job for them. I deeply respect the man and I am saddened at my friend’s physical challenge.

  3. Philip Kuefler says:

    Regarding Doug Christie, as a proud Westerner and a proud Canadian I was taught that “sitcks and stones may break my bones but names would never hurt me”, and that “this is a free country”. Obviously these sentiments are no longer schoolage teachings in Canada. But for Mr. Christie to stand pround and defiant in the face of the mob and to stand and show Canadaians how to turn back the hatred of the bigots, I am forever indebted to this proud fellow westerner. Mr Christie, you are a true Canadian hero, a true defender of our freedom. Long live free speech! Thank-you.

    • smelter rat says:

      Good grief.

    • torgo says:

      I’m curious as to whether or not some of ‘free-speech’ defenders of Christie also stood behind Little Sisters bookstore and Dayglo Abortions. Or does their support of free speech only extend to those of a certain hue and a certain ideology?

  4. Reality.Bites says:

    Like all of us, he chose his path in life. Death won’t change the ugly life he lead.

  5. S. Thomas says:

    In regards to libel, it would be great if you got a legal movement going in this country emulating “Rachel’s Law” in the United States – that is, I think there is a whole lot of information both in Canada and the United Kingdom about fascist/National Socialist groups that investigative journalists, private detectives, lawyers and intelligence workers etc have/know but are afraid to write about due to libel chill.

    “Ehrenfeld appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ehrenfeld’s appeal was again supported by many media organisations in a consolidated amicus curiae brief, which argued that the “growing and dangerous threat of ‘libel tourism’ – the cynical and aggressive use of claimant-friendly libel laws in foreign jurisdictions … has chilled and will continue to chill Dr Ehrenfeld’s exercise of her free speech…
    A federal bill based on Rachel’s Law, the SPEECH Act, was passed in the 111th Congress, by unanimous vote of both the House of Representatives (as HR 2765 in 2009) and the Senate (as S 3518 in 2010), and signed into law by President Barack Obama in August 2010. Like Rachel’s law, the SPEECH Act declares foreign libel judgments to be unenforceable unless they meet the criteria set forth by the First Amendment. The act contains further provisions allowing the libel plaintiff to be counter-sued for a declaration that the foreign libel judgment is “repugnant” to American constitutional law, with the possibility of recovering damages.”

    • S. Thomas says:

      ps:
      a good site:
      http://www.libelreform.org/who-is-silenced

      Claimant: Unnamed

      Respondent: Human Rights Watch, NGO, USA

      In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, Human Rights Watch (HRW) produced an investigative report into the massacres, Leave None to Tell the Story. The report, written in 1999 by Dr Alison Des Forges, presented eyewitness testimony alongside Rwandan government documents, and named several people as being responsible for crimes against humanity.

  6. Brian Mouland says:

    Like him or not Christie was a champion of free speech , the nasty part of free speech means defending the rights of those you do agree with

  7. Y. Mouse says:

    Making a passive-aggressive remark as you did in your post amounts to the same thing as speaking ill of the dead.

  8. hailey says:

    My family has been very impacted to cancer so I am tremendously sad to hear this information. I have no meaningful insight as to whether or not Doug Christie held the views of those who were hateful or if he was simply an advocate of free speech. I hope his final days had well-managed pain and I hope that his family is able to move forward with dignity and hope in their pain.

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