Alberta Conservative MP Kerry Diotte is taking legal action against The Gateway, the University of Alberta’s student newspaper, for alleged defamation; Diotte may seek up to $150,000 in damages, although the paper has retracted the statements in question. (To put that in perspective and as a reminder that student media operates on a shoestring, that’s more than our total 2017-2018 budget.)
The first of the articles in question was about the University of Alberta Students’ Union president Reed Larsen tweeting a photo of himself and Diotte together; the article said this was concerning as Diotte has “a history of making racist remarks.” The article pointed to a 2016 tweet from Diotte about a custom-made bingo card that he played along with during a House of Commons question period; it included the terms “Syrians” and “First Nations.” The article also talked about posts Diotte made with ex-Rebel Media contributor Faith Goldy; Goldy was fired after appearing on a podcast from neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer.
We take our jobs seriously, and we take student media seriously. We believe The Gateway acted in a responsible and ethical manner by retracting the statements they did and believe that punishing a student newspaper financially after retractions have been made will scare student journalists from pursuing sensitive stories about politicians or running opinion pieces about them in the future.
We also believe that The Gateway had every right to report on the details of Diotte’s political history that they did, and after the retractions were made, the lawsuit appears to be nothing more than a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), which forces media to not voice critical opinions because they can’t afford to fight the charges. (Anti-SLAPP legislation exists in Ontario and Quebec, but not Alberta.)
Nexus stands in solidarity with our media colleagues at The Gateway and opposes those who try to stifle a free and critical media in Canada.