Well, I thought it might take a bit longer but I was correct. The media is paying attention to an Ottawa blogger being sued by Warren Kinsella. The Ottawa Sun.

An Ottawa blogger is facing a libel suit from a formidable political operative which could be a legal first in the country.

Mark Bourrie, an author and doctoral student when not blogging, this week received a $600,000 statement of claim from Warren Kinsella, the self-proclaimed political Prince of Darkness.

The suit accused Bourrie of libeling Kinsella in a blog entry. The document quoted the Jan. 14 post that Kinsella considers defamatory about his role in the sponsorship kickback scandal.

As far as I know in the four years I’ve been blogging I’ve seen tempers and threats and a blogger who lost her job in Canada, but I agree this a first.  Mark Bourrie has a blog called Ottawa Watch.

Bourrie said he would fight the suit and promised in the coming days to file a statement of defence and a counterclaim against Kinsella for abuse of process.

“He is using the courts for political ends rather than dealing with some real kind of injury,” said Bourrie, who has written eight books. “I am eager to get it to court.”

Bourrie said he had sanitized the offending post on his blog.

Some background is in this prior post.

Bourrie is raising his legal fees - you can donate at his blog.