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Journal de Montréal columnist Richard Martineau is suing an independent news site for publishing a satirical obituary of the commentator and several cartoons that offended him — including one depicting a dog urinating on Martineau’s grave.

In his lawsuit, filed in Superior Court on Nov. 11, Martineau asks for $350,000 in damages from Ricochet Media for their “hateful” caricatures of him. He believes the site’s mock obituary and cartoons went beyond the bounds of free speech, undermined his honour and glorified his death.

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Reached on Monday morning, Martineau declined to comment on the suit.

For its part, Ricochet claims the suit is baseless and merely a tactic to force the site out of business.

“This lawsuit seems designed to drain Ricochet of financial resources until it can no longer operate,” said Derrick O’Keefe, an editor with Ricochet. “Every lawyer we’ve consulted has advised us that we have a strong defence. However, the costs of defending against this malicious action could drive us out of business, which is, of course, the real goal.”