Day 6
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.
Direct Examination of Caylan by Her Counsel, Richard Harrison
Initial CBC Coverage
• On March 18, the first CBC article was published; it quoted from the Press Progress Article and adopted its framing
• Thereafter, CBC repeatedly referred to Caylan as a white supremacist
• CBC repeatedly described Jivraj as “a longtime Muslim Conservative with deep ties to the Party”
CBC’s Reporting on the 2017 Messages
• In the 2017 Facebook Message conversations with Jivraj, Caylan had posed rhetorical questions about the value of pride parades to invite debate
• CBC reported that she resigned over “white supremacist comments” and that she had questioned pride parades
• Caylan explained her view that participation in pride parades should be voluntary, that people should not be condemned for choosing not to walk, and that she personally preferred gay concerts over gay parades
CBC’s Claims About the Messages
• CBC proclaimed that it had “seen and verified FB messages,” when in fact it had only seen screenshots of selected images taken out of the Messages
• CBC reported that Caylan had refused to comment
• Caylan had declined to give a live oral interview to Ms. Ward on March 19 and reiterated her reasons
• CBC claimed it had offered her a chance to respond but published its article seven hours later without giving her that opportunity
• On March 18, Caylan gave Ms. Ward full particulars of Jivraj’s deceit and treachery, both in a telephone conversation and through her resignation letter
About the CBC
Selective Use of Information
• CBC quoted only portions of Caylan’s resignation letter, omitting key reasons behind her decision to resign
• CBC did not share with its readers, listeners, or viewers any part of the taped conversation between Caylan and Ms. Ward
Amplification of Third‑Party Defamation
• CBC further publicized defamatory comments about Caylan by third parties, including:
• Ms. Ganley, an NDP candidate, who described Caylan as a racist
• Mayor Nenshi, who condemned Caylan for not apologizing and said she was not fit
CBC Internal Records
• Internal CBC records showed that one column about Caylan had been viewed 358,334 times
• Another internal record revealed that nearly 100,000 people had viewed one CBC post
More Testimony About Caylan
Search Results and Public Perception
• Before March 17, Google search results for Caylan’s name were complimentary and flattering
• After March 19, with only two exceptions, search results were condemnatory
• She was repeatedly accused of being a white supremacist or white nationalist; she explained why neither term could be attributed to her
Association With the Charlottesville Shooter
• In one Facebook Message, Caylan had written that the Charlottesville massacre was “sickening”
• Despite this, she was continually associated with the shooter
• Publications repeatedly linked her to the massacre
Testimony About the Toronto Star
Use of Press Progress Material
• The Star published many articles quoting or paraphrasing Press Progress
• It stated that Caylan promoted white supremacist and racist talking points and expressed sympathy for white nationalist views
Failure to Seek Her Perspective
• The Star emphasized that Caylan never apologized
• Caylan testified she did not apologize because she did not know what she was supposed to apologize for; everything published about her was false, and the views attributed to her were not her views
• The Star had been in touch with Jivraj since January, when they received screenshots from him
• They described Jivraj as a “Muslim conservative with ties to the UCP”
• They never asked Jivraj to produce the full Messages
Limited Contact With Caylan
• Caylan received one email inquiry about her resignation from a Star reporter
• She referred him to her resignation letter and told him to email any further questions
• She never received anything else from that reporter or any other Star journalist
Amplification of Third‑Party Criticism
• The Star frequently quoted third parties who criticized Caylan
• They quoted Mayor Nenshi and “gave him a lot of ink”
• They quoted Hlady (see Glossary), who claimed he had been unfairly ousted as the Mountainview candidate so Caylan could run
• Hlady said “they couldn’t beat me,” despite polling showing he had 3% support before being disqualified
• Hlady had been disqualified by the Party for sexually inappropriate conduct while an MLA
Distribution
• The Toronto Star publishes Star Metro, a free street‑handout that reproduced Star articles and was widely distributed
• Editions of the Star’s publications were available in Calgary and Edmonton
Testimony About Defendant Nanda
• Nanda made approximately 70 defamatory statements about Caylan, both in op‑eds and in tweets
• Caylan and Nanda had never met, and she knew nothing about him
• She invited Nanda to meet her for coffee so she could explain the truth; he did not accept the offer, nor did he contact her or ask for an explanation
Testimony About the Taped Podcast Played in Court
• The podcast featured four individuals who cruelly, mockingly, and derisively disparaged Caylan, as well as Jason Kenney and Licia Corbella
• One of the participants was Defendant Stephen Magusiak, a reporter with Press Progress
• One speaker, repeating or paraphrasing Press Progress quotes, said Caylan had a “very well‑formed white nationalist philosophy”
• Caylan was accused of being a misogynist and repeatedly called a white nationalist
• The speakers described Licia Corbella as a “shill” for the UCP
• They contemptuously questioned Caylan’s Oxford degree and mocked her documentary Letter from Masanjia
• They stated that her UCP nomination was rigged and called her a grifter
• One participant compared Caylan to a member of the Ku Klux Klan
• Magusiak knew of Jivraj’s history of treachery and his attempts to harm Caylan
• Magusiak mocked Caylan’s husband and children
Testimony About Harm Done
• The Chair of the Canadian Constitution Foundation initially spoke to Caylan about joining their board, but after March 19 he told her that other board members considered it a “non‑starter”
• He said she would never be rehabilitated and would be a reputational liability
• Caylan testified that she had always believed her cognitive and intellectual gifts were meant to be used in service of others — “If we have gifts, we owe them to other people”
• She found she could not use her gifts to help anyone because her name and reputation would harm any cause she supported
• She could not support her family or help her friends; she felt she was of no use to anyone
• The most difficult part for her was feeling that her life no longer had purpose
Testimony About Speaking Engagements
• In fall 2019, she was invited to speak at a Calgary event attended by 50–100 people
• She spoke, but masked protesters attended, calling her a white supremacist
• Dr. John von Heyking of the University of Lethbridge invited her to speak about freedom of speech and political science
• Student groups attempted to cancel the event and compared it to events that led to the Holocaust
• The university did not cancel the event but stated it would allow protests
• The COVID‑19 lockdown intervened, the event was cancelled, and she was never invited back
Testimony About Employment
• Caylan applied to Global Affairs to renew her employment, but her application did not result in a position
• She was unemployed and applied for long‑term disability benefits
• In 2021, her income was $80,000, consisting mostly of disability benefits
• She was uncomfortable receiving benefits — being paid money she did not earn
• She wanted employment, but her reputational damage made her unemployable
• In late 2021, she reapplied to Global Affairs through her union
• Global Affairs rehired her, but in a role not commensurate with her previous work — essentially clerical, answering emails for a consular emergency fund
• The position involved no policy or analytical work
• It was a teleworking role; security rules required her to be isolated and work only from her bedroom
• She was humiliated that no one had any interest in using her abilities
• She became depressed; her return to work was deemed unsuccessful
• Her supervisors could not give her a positive review
• She returned to disability benefits for the last three months of 2022
• Unemployment was difficult, but the psycho‑social and cognitive effects were worse
About Caylan’s Struggle
• She applied for employment but received no responses
• Interviews of her that had been available online were taken down
• She felt as though she was drowning in grief, no longer present or attached to the world
• She welcomed the idea of death
• Her capacity for joy disappeared
• She suffered severe fatigue and was constantly tired
• She often had no incentive to get out of bed and sometimes stayed in bed all day
• When out in public, she would sometimes feel grief well up as if it were a physical substance her body could no longer contain
• She would begin crying spontaneously
Therapy and Diagnosis
• She began cognitive therapy with Dr. Lucido
• On her intake form, Dr. Lucido wrote that she needed help dealing with unremitting grief and passive suicidal ideation
• Her symptoms were consistent with severe depressive disorder and PTSD‑like symptoms
Impact on Her Children
• Her daughter Anora was less than one year old; Caylan missed much of Anora’s first year
• Anora has no memory of her mother before the trauma
• Caylan tried to put on a normal façade for her daughters, but it was always forced
• She felt she was never truly present with them
• Her older daughter, Everen, once asked Caylan to tell her a story; Caylan replied she was too sad to tell stories
• Everen told her, “You need to go campaigning again,” because she could see how sad her mother was
• Everen said that next time she would protect her mother
• Caylan felt it was wrong that her three‑year‑old believed she needed to protect her
• Everen was perceptive and could tell that Caylan had changed
Loss of Purpose
• In the background, Caylan was trying to figure out how to earn a living, find employment, and rebuild
• She could not support her family or help her friends; she felt she was of no use to anyone
• The most difficult part was the feeling that her life no longer had purpose
Marriage Breakdown
• Caylan testified that her former husband Jared would testify and she did not want to impinge on his evidence
• Jared’s social world had been Caylan’s social world; when her world collapsed, his collapsed as well
• It was traumatic for him; he felt powerless watching Caylan be attacked and become suicidal
• The stress on the family was immense
• Jared tried to give Caylan space to work and heal
• His ability to work full‑time was impaired because Caylan was deeply depressed and he had to care for the girls
• He fell into a deep depression
• They separated in the summer of 2021 but continued living in the same house because they could not afford to live separately
• They eventually divorced
• Caylan described it as a profound failure; she was so embarrassed that it took years before she told anyone
Testimony About Jivraj’s Treachery
Online Attacks
• Jivraj continued feeding ideas to Press Progress about how to socially isolate Caylan
• He targeted anyone who said anything positive about her
• He created two pseudonymous Twitter accounts to attack her: the “Serena R” account and the “Mr. Wilson” account
The “Serena R” Account
• “Serena R” was portrayed as a liberal‑leaning woman with children
• The account amplified negative remarks about Caylan and directed people to hostile stories
• These included claims that she promoted white genocide and made “racist, antisemitic comments”
The “Mr. Wilson” Account
• “Mr. Wilson” attacked Caylan from the right
• He called her a coward, weak, “no Margaret Thatcher,” and someone who “folds like a cheap suit”
Targeting Journalists Who Interviewed Her
• Joel Crichton and Andrew Lawton had both interviewed Caylan and published favourable interviews
• Jivraj contacted both men and threatened them with lawsuits if they did not remove the interviews
• Both removed their interviews
• Crichton later restored his interview after speaking with Caylan
Removal of the Danielle Smith Interview
• Caylan noticed her interview with Danielle Smith had been removed from the Corus network
• Corus told her it had been removed for editorial reasons
• Jivraj had threatened Corus with a libel lawsuit
• Corus asked Caylan to remove the interview from her own website
Importance of the Interviews
• It was important to Caylan to keep the interviews online because hundreds of publications were describing her as a white supremacist, terrorist sympathizer, Nazi, and someone unfit for polite society
• The interviews were the only way she could show the world who she really was
• They were her only means of defending herself
• She was trying to clear her name
Further Interference
• Cass Sunstein wrote about modern “stonings” (cancellations) and what drives people to participate in such campaigns
• “Mr. Wilson” responded to Sunstein, saying Caylan had cowered in the face of controversy and shown no moral courage
• Andy Signor, from Florida, reached out to Caylan and recorded a podcast with her about how people cope with being cancelled
• Before the podcast was published, Jivraj contacted Signor — both under a pseudonym and his real name — and threatened Signor and his associates
• Signor published the interview despite the threats
Testimony About Caylan’s Mental State
• A psychiatrist friend told her that her symptoms were the type long‑term disability benefits were designed for
• She applied for and received those benefits for about two years
• She did not feel good about being on benefits; she disliked receiving money she had not earned
• She remained unemployed
• She met with a therapist for talk therapy
• She suffered not only reputational harm but also severe psycho‑social and cognitive effects
• Her ability to complete tasks was impaired; she felt broken
Symptoms and Therapy
• In the immediate aftermath of March 2019, she was traumatized but still hoped she could clear her name
• As time passed — with no ability to publish essays, no responses to job applications, and interviews being taken down —
• She began to feel as though she was drowning in grief
• She welcomed the idea of death
Comment
• The egregious conduct of the Defendants was on full display
• Listening to the Magusiak podcast was disturbing and saddening; it revealed how nasty, cruel, and dishonest people can be in pursuit of ideological or political goals
• Caylan’s career and life were devastated