Protesters confronted Ezra Levant of Sun News over alleged "racist" comments outside the organization's Toronto offices on Saturday.Demonstrators holding signs and beating a drum gathered at the downtown office in the afternoon, the Sun reported. A video uploaded to YouTube shows Levant engaging several people in the angry crowd amid jeers.
"We're here because of the racial slurs that have been going on with the media for years. We're tired of it," one man said.
"We should get rid of your property rights, Ezra," said another.
He spoke to several protesters to suss out what "racist" remarks they were referring to, and asked them to back up their claims.
"I see there's some anti-Semitism," Levant countered at one point.
Police eventually escorted him away from protesters.
Although the Sun article identified the group as part of First Nations movement Idle No More, Levant said in an interview some were part of a "rent-a-mob" who will attend any protest, or "paid union organizers." He also said he tried to discuss the Indian Act with protesters.
“The racism of the Indian Act is what motivates me to want to reform it," he said. "It gives and takes away rights based on race.”
Levant's recent work has questioned several issues around Idle No More, such as the reasons behind Attawapiskat's financial difficulties and the legality of the protests.
Toronto Sun Publisher Mike Power has defended the organization's reporting.
"No one supports free speech or the right to peaceful protest more than we do,” he said. “But disagreeing with some First Nations leaders or Idle No More blockades does not make our paper or our journalists racists."
This rally is the most recent in a string of demonstrations against Sun Media. Idle No More protesters marched outside the Calgary Sun's offices earlier this month and others accused the Winnipeg Sun of biased reporting on First Nations issues, according to the CBC.
Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author: The Huffington Post Canada
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