Day 40
Note: I am a poor note-taker and these summaries will contain errors and omissions which will reflect my limitations. My intention is to report on the facts as accurately as possible although a subconscious bias may creep in. I can only provide glimpses into what I see as relevant and interesting events. My goal is to capture the essence of the day’s events rather than be comprehensive.
Read the reference documents: The Legal Case and Events Leading to Trial to obtain an understanding of the case and its history. Names and terms are abbreviated and defined in Glossary.
Toronto Star Witnesses Continue
Direct Examination of Trevor Howell by Ms. Cooper (Counsel for the Toronto Star)
Mr. Howell was an investigative reporter for StarMetro Calgary in 2019. His evidence:
He now works for the NDP.
He suffered a concussion in an accident in Mexico in March 2019.
He testified that his memory remains impaired as a result of the concussion.
In 2019 he reported to Ms. Boyd.
Emma McIntosh was also an investigative journalist in the Calgary newsroom at that time.
Mr. Howell was aware that that Mr. Leavitt had received information about Caylan from a source.
Mr. Leavitt lacked confidence in the source, who refused to go on the record.
Mr. Howell did not recall seeing the nine‑page email Mr. Leavitt had received from “Whistleblower.”
He did not recall seeing emails Mr. Leavitt had sent to him.
Before leaving for his vacation in Mexico, Mr. Howell wrote a riding profile for Calgary‑Mountain View.
The article stated that Caylan:
“was lured into Alberta politics by UCP Leader Jason Kenney”; and
“had been accused by members of the UCP Calgary Mountainview board of deliberately misleading the party over her residency to circumvent nomination rules.”
He was in Mexico when Caylan resigned.
His article had not yet been published at the time of her resignation.
Another journalist modified the article to include material related to Caylan’s resignation.
The article was ultimately published on March 25.
The headline at publication read: “Alberta Liberal leader defends lone Calgary stronghold, as UCP candidate steps down for white supremacist comments.”
Mr. Howell’s testimony concluded and he was excused.
Comment
Mr. Howell was interested in the allegations that Caylan was not a legitimate UCP candidate. But he never bothered to investigate the truth of those allegations. His article stated the Jivraj falsehood that Caylan was lured into politics by Jason Kenney. He would have learned from basic investigation that the allegation was false. A phone call to Caylan would have sufficed.
The accusation that Caylan had misled the party over her residency originated with Jivraj and had been publicized by Press Progress. Mr. Howell knew that Jivraj was a suspect source and presumably knew that Press Progress had an NDP agenda, but he simply adopted their defamatory statements. A phone call to Caylan could have provided him with the facts, but the call was not made. It suggests a preference for defamatory material over facts - particularly when the defamatory material is about a UCP candidate.
Mr. Howell’s present employment with the NDP suggests a reason for that preference.
Direct Examination of Alexandra Boyd by Ms. Cooper (Counsel for the Toronto Star)
Ms. Boyd holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and in 2019 was the Alberta bureau chief and managing editor for the Toronto Star. Her evidence:
In January, Mr. Leavitt informed her that he had been contacted by an anonymous source claiming to have screenshots of Facebook messenger conversations with Caylan.
Mr. Leavitt later learned the anonymous source was Jivraj, who demanded anonymity.
Jivraj was pressuring Mr. Leavitt to publish a “hit piece” on Caylan and the UCP.
Mr. Leavitt was suspicious of Jivraj, who refused to show him the actual messages and insisted on anonymity.
Mr. Leavitt wanted to understand the context of the messages.
Ms. Boyd expected Caylan to be a candidate in the upcoming election and was interested in a potential story.
However, she was concerned about the authenticity of the material and Jivraj’s insistence on anonymity.
On January 16, Jivraj sent Mr. Leavitt an affidavit swearing to the authenticity of the screenshots attached as exhibits.
Ms. Boyd knew that Caylan had alleged that Jivraj was harassing her, fabricating quotes, and attempting to damage her career.
She also understood that Caylan and Jivraj had previously been friends and that their relationship had deteriorated.
Although she was interested in the story Jivraj was promoting, Ms. Boyd made no effort to reach out to Caylan.
Ms. Boyd decided not to publish a story at that time because:
she was concerned about Jivraj’s insistence on anonymity;
she was concerned about his motives;
she was concerned about the context of the messages; and
she did not consider the story sufficiently newsworthy to overcome those concerns.
When she saw the March 18 Press Progress article, she immediately recognized Jivraj as the source.
She equated Caylan’s reference to “demographic replacement” with the “Great Replacement” theory.
Based on that equation, she concluded that Caylan was a racist.
The Toronto Star published its first article about Caylan on March 19 at 9:04 a.m.
They described Jivraj as “a conservative Muslim with deep ties to the UCP.”
Jivraj had told Mr. Leavitt that he had no association with the UCP.
They granted Jivraj confidentiality because he had told Mr. Leavitt he feared retribution, and because he had requested anonymity in January.
The Star published four articles about Caylan on March 19, each stating that she resigned “after comments promoting racist white supremacist talking points.”
A March 22 article again stated that Caylan had promoted racist white supremacist talking points.
That same statement appeared in at least three additional Star articles.
Another Star article stated that Caylan had to “answer or dodge questions” about comments with “racist, Islamophobic or anti‑LGBTQ sentiment.”
The Star’s efforts to contact Caylan consisted solely of Mr. Maiman’s attempts, and he never followed up on Caylan’s invitation to do so.
Caylan invited Mr. Maiman to email any questions he had.
Ms. Boyd interpreted Caylan’s invitation to email questions as a refusal to speak by phone.
No further phone attempts were made, and no questions were emailed to Caylan.
Ms. Boyd considered it newsworthy to highlight in the Star’s reporting that questions had been raised about how Caylan became the candidate in Mountain View.
She was aware of the Danielle Smith interview of Caylan.
She testified that she “half‑listened” to the interview and it did not have her full attention.
Nothing in the interview struck her as newsworthy or worth spending time on.
Court adjourned for the day.
Ms. Boyd’s direct examination continued the following day.