I’m in London, England right now on my annual trip to the homeland, and it’s easy to become detached from Canadian politics. It’s also liberating to not give a second thought to the latest shrieks from the Canadian hard right, which always fades into deserved obscurity when viewed from Europe or the United States.

The sewers are allowed to breathe — but that doesn’t mean we have to inhale.

But the Charlottesville horror crystallized the dangers of the alt-right, throwing into sharp focus not only the fascists and their friends but also their fellow travellers. Which is where Ezra Levant’s Rebel Media comes into play.

While Levant has now distanced himself from the extremists who caused so much pain in Virginia, one of the media platform’s founders, journalist and broadcaster Brian Lilley, has resigned from Rebel over what he called its “harsh tone”. He also questioned what one of the outlet’s reporters was doing at a “unite the right” rally that was, he says, an “anti-Semitic white power rally.”

I’ve known Lilley for some time but we haven’t spoken for around three years. Brian is a Roman Catholic and a conservative, and I rather publicly left the Catholic Church for Anglicanism and have written numerous columns questioning conservative policies.

But I have to say that while various Rebel commentators have attacked and condemned me, as far as I know Lilley was never one of them. So while we’re no longer friends, perhaps we’re not enemies. (Mind you, I don’t regard anyone as an enemy.)

You’re late, Brian, and you’ve got a lot to explain. I hope you’ll try to repair the damage — but at least you’ve done the right thing. You’re late, Brian, and you’ve got a lot to explain. I hope you’ll try to repair the damage — but at least you’ve done the right thing.

I was involved with the Rebel when it started. For three days. When Levant originally approached me I told him I was no longer on-brand but he reassured me I was welcome. That didn’t last long. (Good Lord, how could it?)

And that’s one of the questions being asked of Lilley now. Good for you for quitting, Brian — but why now? Levant, Faith Goldy, Gavin McInnes and the rest of that bunch have been spewing out their hysteria for a long time, and Lilley made no public criticism. Many alt-right types felt enabled and empowered by Rebel pundits while Lilley remained on board.

But as someone who has changed his opinions in the past, I’m inclined to forgive — or at least to understand.

You’re late, Brian, and you’ve got a lot to explain. I hope you’ll try to repair the damage — but at least you’ve done the right thing. There will be blowback. I speak from direct experience. The hard right love to pose as victims — but they hate and persecute their foes with a terrifying energy.

When I embraced progressive Christianity and social democracy, I faced an organized hate campaign that shocked me. It was alleged that I was mentally ill, a pedophile, a thief, or that I was doing it all simply for money. (That last theory always struck me as particularly odd, since — while it shouldn’t matter — I lost 75 per cent of my income though cancelled columns, speeches and book sales.)

It was said that I had repeatedly changed my religion, from Jewish to Catholic to Protestant. While my father was Jewish I was raised with no faith; I became a Catholic in 1985 and have remained a Christian ever since.

Because I embraced equal marriage I was accused of having a gay affair; it was said that one of my daughters was in a lesbian partnership. Neither she nor I could care less about such nonsense, of course, but it’s simply not true. Alt-rightists also trolled my youngest child’s Facebook page. Editors were pressured to fire me, my books were burned (hey, as long as they pay for them) and a photo of me was falsified and plastered all over social media.

I hope and pray this doesn’t happen to Brian Lilley. He may be lucky. But I urge everyone to think about how the alt-right treats what it views as heresy before dismissing Lilley as having been too tolerant for too long of the Rebel’s way of doing things.

His decision — and similar recent reactions from a group of Tory MPs — could mark the decline of an enterprise that has diminished and damaged the Canadian conversation. Remember — it takes all sorts to make the world a better place.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.