Journalist Christie Blatchford Wins the George Jonas Freedom Award for
TORONTO. June 14, 2019. Paul Fromm, the Director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, hails her as “the best courtroom reporter in Canada.” Some months back, she wrote a brilliant piece eviscerating the Kinsellas, Warren and Lisa, who have been tormenters of the satirical tabloid YOUR WARD NEWS, and were in the process of losing an “uttering threats” case against editor Dr. James Sears.
Tonight, Christie Blatchford became the second recipient of the George Jonas Freedom Award at a dinner in midtown Toronto sponsored by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
Centre Director John Carpay warned: “Political correctness in Canada has gone too far. Freedoms can be enshrined in a constitution but they must be enshrined in our hearts. Freedom is under serious attack in Canada today.” And, he concluded, “the biggest danger is not to realize we are in a war to destroy society from within.”
Introducing winner Christie Blatchford was Marie Henein who had just beaten the federal government to a standstill in the case of Vice Admiral Mark Norman.The Crown had been shamed into withdrawing the charges after putting the admiral through years of legal and financial hell.
“Christie is unmanageable,” Henein praised. “In four decades in our courts, sometimes at high personal cost, she has provided a critical, informed and reasoned view of our justice system. Christie, you are a barometer of what many of us should be thinking about in our legal work.”
Accepting the award, Miss Blatchford, who now writes for the National Post, mentioned pro-life campaigner “Linda Gibbons who has done a total of 11 years in jail for carrying s small sign opposing abortion” outside Toronto abortion clinics.
And, she added, “I’m concerned about difficulties in getting bail. Also, the “#me too” movement is a genuine threat.” Human rights hearings, she warned, “are unbearably unfair.” On a sombre note, she concluded her acceptance asking, “which of our federal leaders will defend free speech? None of the above.”