Tory MP says he isn’t racist, sues student newspaper

EDMONTON • Alberta Conservative MP Kerry Diotte is suing the University of Alberta student newspaper over a pair of articles that he claims have defamed him.

On Nov. 19, Diotte filed a statement of claim against The Gateway Student Journalism Society, which publishes the U of A’s student newspaper.

The first article was published Nov. 2 on The Gateway’s website.

It was written after U of A Students’ Union president Reed Larsen tweeted a photo of himself with Diotte at a Canadian Alliance of Student Associations’ meeting in October.

According to the statement of claim, the article included a passage that said, “Several U of A students voiced concern over Larsen’s meeting with Diotte, who has a history of making racist remarks.”

The article pointed to social media posts Diotte has made about ex-rebel Media contributor Faith Goldy, who was fired after appearing on a podcast of the Daily Stormer, a neo-nazi website. It goes on to reference a 2016 tweet from Diotte about a custommade bingo card with which he “played along” during question period in the House of Commons. The card included the terms “Syrians” and “First Nations.”

The second article was published Nov. 8, according to the claim. The editorial questioned the student union president’s judgment for appearing in “such a smiley, cuddly photo of a man who makes pals with white nationalists.”

Diotte claims the entire article is defamatory.