• News
    • Business
    • Canada
    • Health
    • International
    • Israel
  • Perspectives
    • Ask Ella
    • Ask The Love Rabbi
    • Features
    • Jewish Parenting Wisdom
    • Opinions
    • Ideas
    • Letters
    • Personal Essays
  • Food
  • Culture
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • The Arts
    • Books & Authors
    • Canada 150
    • Jewish Learning
    • June 1967
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Events
    • Contests
  • Supplements
    • Spotlights
  • Other Communities
    • En Français
    • Russian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Search
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre (eCJN)
  • Log Out
  • Newsletter
  • FaceBook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
April 20, 2018 - 5 Iyar 5778
CJN - Canada’s largest Jewish newspaper
  • News
    • Toronto public school responds to anti-Semitic incident

      ‘The world has lost a bright light’: Prominent chabad couple’s son dies at 15

      Crowdfunding campaign raises $3 million for Toronto day schools

      Holocaust museum postpones exhibit over concerns about Polish law

      Canadians to go to Israel for 50th anniversary of Grade 10 year spent abroad

      AllBusinessCanadaHealthInternationalIsrael
  • Perspectives
    • Israel & the Internet: Circa 1948 – April 19, 2018

      Tales from the fascist book club

      The 70 faces Of Israel

      Documenting Israel’s birth

      Liba Augenfeld – the survivor who brought her love of Yiddish with her

      AllAsk EllaAsk The Love RabbiFeaturesJewish Parenting WisdomOpinionsIdeasLettersPersonal Essays
  • Food
    • The Shabbat Table: A special post-Passover garlic shlissel challah

      Everyone gets gooey at downtown matzah bake

      Making matzah balls unites a modern Jewish family, says Phyllis Feldman

      The easy way out of Passover

      Bannock and matzah: our breads of affliction

      Taste of Pesach 2: A successful sequel to a delightful debut

  • Culture
    • Blending Caribbean sun and Jewish history in Curacao

      Novella splendidly blends math and literature

      Segal Centre features more Jewish content in 2018-19 season

      Popular Israeli podcast comes to the stage

      Mollie Jepsen – the Vancouver skier who won gold at the Paralympics

      AllArts & EntertainmentThe ArtsBooks & AuthorsCanada 150Jewish LearningJune 1967SportsTravel
  • Events
    • Chai Lifeline’s Restoring Hope contest (Closed)

      The CJN Prize (CLOSED)

      BRITISH YIDDISH AND KIDDUSH CONTEST (closed)

      The CJN Prize for Young Writers Contest (closed)

      JEWISH MUSIC WEEK 2016 (closed)

      AllContests
  • Supplements
    • Home Beautiful

      CJL Magazine

      Passover Greetings

      Passover Greetings

      MTL Celebrations

      AllSpotlights
  • Other Communities
    • Quel avenir pour les Juifs de France ?

      Israël dans la grande poudrière du Moyen-Orient

      Une entrevue avec Enrico Macias

      L’héritage de Shimon Peres: “Aucun rêve n’est impossible”

      L’intelligence artificielle au service de la robotique

      AllEn FrançaisRussian
  • Subscribe
  • Member Centre
  • Log Out
Home News Canada Chassidic leaders seek appeal against blogger’s victory
  • News
  • Canada

Chassidic leaders seek appeal against blogger’s victory

By
Janice Arnold, Staff Reporter
-
January 15, 2014
858
0
SHARE
Facebook
Twitter
Alex Werzberger

MONTREAL — Three prominent chassidic leaders are seeking to appeal the dismissal of their defamation lawsuit against an Outremont blogger.

Julius Grey, the lawyer for Michael Rosenberg, president of the real-estate development film Rosdev Construction, his son Martin Rosenberg, and Alex Werzberger, head of the Coalition of Chassidic Organizations of Outrement, has filed a leave to appeal before the Quebec Court of Appeal.

They believe a lower court judge erred in reaching her decision against their claim that they have been subjected to ridicule by Pierre Lacerte for years.

On Dec. 4, in a 108-page judgment, Quebec Superior Court Justice Claude Dallaire rejected the three men’s $375,000 lawsuit against Lacerte.

The lawsuit, which also cited harassment and breach of privacy, was the latest chapter in a decade-long feud between the elder Rosenberg and Lacerte.

Since 2007, Lacerte has managed the website Accommodements Outremont, where he chronicles – usually with biting satire – alleged municipal bylaw infractions by members of the chassidic communities in that borough.

The Rosenbergs have received particular attention from Lacerte. They are leaders of the Bobover synagogue on Hutchison Street across from where Lacerte lives.

The Rosenbergs, who have charged that Lacerte is motivated by anti-Semitism, are especially bothered by the blogger’s photographing of their comings and goings from the synagogue for the past decade. Lacerte has used these photos to back up his claim they routinely flout the bylaws, such as parking illegally or building without permits.

Lacerte, a former journalist, has denied he is racist and says he just wants the borough administration to apply the law equally to everyone and is exercising his freedom of speech.

Werzberger told The CJN that an appeal is being sought, even though the legal costs are high, because “Number 1, we want to quieten him [Lacerte] down a bit.

“And, number 2, he is not going to stop otherwise. The only way is to fight him.”

Werzberger described Dallaire’s judgment as “very soft. We think we have a pretty good chance if we go before a panel of three judges.”

Dallaire concluded that the blog’s content did not constitute defamation or harassment, and found no evidence of racially motivated discrimination.

She wrote that because the three plaintiffs are public figures as representatives of the chassidic community they can be subject to criticism and even parody under the freedom of expression.

Werzberger commented, “Even a public figure cannot be libelled… We’re not talking about criticism. The truth is fine, but [Lacerte] lies a lot. He misrepresents the facts.”

Dallaire also dismissed Lacerte’s counter-suit for $725,000 against the trio who he alleged are trying to silence him and have sullied his reputation with the accusation of anti-Semitism.

Immediately after the decision, Lacerte illustrated his blog about his victory with a photo montage showing his opponents being crucified. It was still posted as of Jan. 15.

The Rosenbergs’ and Werzberger’s faces are superimposed on three men hanging on crosses in front of the borough hall. The elder Rosenberg, in the centre, says (in English), “Lacerte is a real thorn in my side.”

A distressed woman below them bears the face of Outremont borough mayor Marie Cinq-Mars, another foe of Lacerte, because he feels she has been too lenient with the Chassidim.

Werzberger termed it a “vulgar and a cheap shot, but the greatest insult is to the Catholic Church, not to us.”

SHARE
Facebook
Twitter
Janice Arnold, Staff Reporter

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Blending Caribbean sun and Jewish history in Curacao

From the Archives: Yom ha-Atzmaut

Toronto public school responds to anti-Semitic incident

  • Popular
  • Recent
Subscribe to the CJNSubscribe
RSS FeedView
5,518FansLike
856FollowersFollow
10,094FollowersFollow
196SubscribersSubscribe
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe / Member Centre (eCJN)
  • eCJN Archives
  • Supplements
  • Media Kit
  • Advertising Terms
  • Premiums

One on One at Comicon with Leo Leibelman

Purim 2018 on Toronto's streets

Baba Fira's CJN Prize Awards invite

  • News
  • Canada
  • Israel
  • International
  • Opinions
  • The Arts
The award-winning Canadian Jewish News (CJN) is Canada’s largest, weekly Jewish newspaper with an audited circulation of nearly 32,000 and read by more than 100,000 people each week.
© Copyright 2018 Canadian Jewish News
  • Comments Policy
  • Community Links
  • Contact Us
  • Media Kit
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Admin

Week in Review...

Comes Right to You

Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter

X