Western Standard

The "Western Standard" (ISSN|1710-1026) is a Calgary, Alberta-based libertarian-conservative publication that billed itself as Canada's only conservative national news magazine. As of October 2007, with the cancellation of its print edition, the "Western Standard" is an exclusively online entity.

Background

The "Western Standard" was launched in March, 2004 by lawyer and former Reform Party and Canadian Alliance activist Ezra Levant and others to fill the void left by the failure of the conservative "Alberta Report", which went out of business in June 2003.

Political stance

The magazine aimed for a brash, outspoken approach to social and political issues. Noted "Standard" columnists include Mark Steyn, Pierre Lemieux, Colby Cosh, David Warren and "Alberta Report" founder Ted Byfield, father of Link Byfield.

The "Western Standard" had a conservative flavour, but publisher Ezra Levant maintained that its stories were fair and balanced. The magazine featured an online discussion blog called " [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun The Shotgun] ". The blog was administered by Kevin Steel.

Currently, the "Western Standard" tends to be more libertarian than conservative, featuring columnists like the "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery, Pierre Lemieux, and Grant Brown.

The current mission of the "Western Standard" is to "promote a culture of liberty in Canada."

Western alienation

Although 20% of the magazine's readership was in Ontario, the former motto of the "Western Standard" was "the independent voice of the new west", and its editorial voice expressed sympathy to Western Canadian issues. This was manifested in greater reporting coverage of Western problems, and a roster of opinion editorial voices calling for a remediation of same. In fact, a plurality of the magazine's columnists live in Central Canada, including David Warren, Michael Coren and Karen Selick, or in the Eastern U.S., including Walter E. Williams and Mark Steyn.

The "Western Standard" earned widespread national attention and even international coverage in the "Wall Street Journal" and in several Chinese newspapers for its large opinion poll in the summer of 2005, examining Western Canadians' appetite for independence from the rest of Canada as a large result of ongoing western alienation. In the October 9, 2006 issue, they did their second annual Western separation poll.

The magazine was openly critical, in its reporting and opinion columns, of policies it believed favour Central Canada, such as the Canadian Wheat Board, what it argued is the disproportionate allocation of Parliamentary seats to Central and Eastern Canada, and official bilingualism. The magazine also published an opinion editorial by Ric Dolphin whose frequently criticized Quebec and its politics — though Western and conservative politicians were not spared by him, either. Several of the magazine's columnists, including Warren have argued for Alberta's secession. Other "Western Standard" writers, such as Andrew Coyne, have argued strenuously against it, and former editor Kevin Libin has written skeptically on the subject.

Libertarianism

Despite being primarily conservative, the "Western Standard" also had some libertarian influence. Ontario lawyer and columnist Karen Selick argued with social conservative television host Michael Coren in a debate column on current public policy issues called "Face-off"; Edmonton-based "National Post" columnist Colby Cosh authored the sports column; and Matthew Johnston was the magazine's senior vice-president.

All four -- Selick, Williams, Cosh, and Johnston -- are known for their libertarian political views.

The "Western Standard" was purchased by Matthew Johnston in 2008. Since then, the e-magazine has been more openly libertarian.

Muhammad cartoons controversy

On February 13 2006 the "Western Standard" attracted controversy when it became the first widely-published English Canadian media outlet to republish the cartoons of Muhammad first published by the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten". ref|cbc20060213a Conservative Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor criticized this decision, saying that it put the lives of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan at increased risk. [http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=a3384e1e-9b73-48d5-88bf-dc27c11b64bc&k=21702] While editors of Canadian news media decided against publishing the cartoons, a subsequent poll of Canadian journalists conducted by Compas found that 7 in 10 of respondents thought that at least some of the cartoons should have been published by at least some of the Canadian media. [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/files/rf_journalists_speak_part_i_danish_cartoons_20060220.pdf]

Retail bookselling giant Chapters and Indigo refused to stock this particular issue of the magazine. [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2006/02/self_imposed_ce.html]

On February 23 2006, Gordon Wong, Calgary's Crown Attorney decided against laying hate charges against the Western Standard. Wong felt that there was no evidence the publication intended to incite hatred against a specific group. "The intent was to debate the issues within the articles," Wong told The Toronto Star. "That's different than inciting hatred." [The Toronto Star, February 23, 2006, "Publications not charged for printing cartoons"]

In February 2006, Calgary Muslim leader Syed Soharwardy filed a human rights complaint against Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant. He was compelled to appear before the Alberta Human Rights Commission to discuss his intention in publishing the cartoons. Levant posted video of the hearing on YouTube. Levant questioned the competence of the Commission to take up the issue, and challenged it to convict him, "and sentences me to the apology,", stating that he would then take "this junk into the real courts, where eight hundred years of common law" would come to his aid. [ [http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=o5dwUqCGJeE&feature=related YouTube - Closing Argument ] ]

In February 2008, Soharwardy dropped the complaint noting that "most Canadians see this as an issue of freedom of speech, that that principle is sacred and holy in our society." [ [http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=7e0d6665-0c5d-41b8-a706-d95f3b0329be Imam drops rights dispute ] ]

Racial slur controversy

In February 13, 2006 issue of "Western Standard", a column by Ric Dolphin quoted an unnamed "fishing buddy" of Ralph Klein's as saying, "Once she (Colleen Klein) stops being the premier's wife, she goes back to being just another Indian." This occurred in the context of a piece that was critical of Klein's wife, arguing that she holds too much power over the premier's office. [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/15/western-standard-060215.html] Ezra Levant, publisher of the magazine, defended the article saying "We sympathize with Colleen's hurt feelings but we didn't say the words -- we just reported them, and we'll continue to report on the growing divide between those who think Ralph is past his best-before date, and those sycophants who will do anything to keep him -- and the missus -- in power." [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2006/02/forks_vs_collee.html]

End of paper format

On October 5, 2007, the publisher of the "Western Standard", Ezra Levant, announced that the magazine would cease the distribution of its non-electronic version because of financial difficulties. [ [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2007/10/150-million-pag.html Western Standard ] ] Levant sold the publication's remaining assets to Matthew Johnston. ["Website sorry for anti-Islamic remarks", "Calgary Herald" December 22, 2007] Subscribers were given a trial subscription for "Maclean's". [ [http://westernstandard.blogs.com/shotgun/2007/12/new-plans-for-w.html Westeern Standard - New plans for westernstandard.ca] ]

ee also

*Western alienation

References

* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/13/cartoons060213.html Western Canadian magazine publishes Muhammad cartoons] , "CBC News", February 13 2006
* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/15/western-standard-060215.html Comments on Klein's wife spark new controversy for Western Standard] , "CBC News", February 15 2006
* [http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=41db6303-f0c1-4b9f-8ea8-b3f0ecefe2b8 Muslim cartoon dispute reignited] , "Calgary Herald, January 12 2008

External links

* [http://www.westernstandard.ca/ Western Standard website]
* [http://www.steynonline.com/ Mark Steyn's Homepage]
* [http://www.colbycosh.com/ Colby Cosh's Homepage]
* [http://www.davidwarrenonline.com/ David Warren's Homepage]
* [http://www.karenselick.com/ Karen Selick's Homepage]