Despite working hard to polish his image since being freed a year ago from a U.S. prison, Conrad Black remains one of the most controversial figures in Canada.

Many Canadians are furious that Black, the one-time media owner who renounced his citizenship in 2001, is allowed to live in Canada, that he still retains his Order of Canada standing and that many in the media still fawn over him.

A poll last year, for example, found 63 per cent of Canadians believe Black should be stripped of his Order of Canada, which he received in 1990. Only 19 per cent disagree. And comment sections for online news items about Black are littered with vitriol against him, with the use of words such as “sociopath” and “shameless huckster.”

Black calls his critics “the haters.”

Still, he has a loyal following across the country — and not just among the rich and powerful.

This week, 500 people packed a large meeting room in downtown Toronto to hear Black plug his latest book on U.S. history, Flight of the Eagle.

It was one of the rare times since returning to Canada last year that Black has spoken at an event that was free and open to the average citizen. He usually speaks at paid events to pro-business crowds with which he is more comfortable.

For Black, it was a bit of a gamble because he had agreed to field questions from the audience, unfiltered and unscripted. But he had nothing to fear because the evening was a love-in for him.

“Welcome back to Canada. We missed you,” one questioner said to applause from the audience. “Always a delight to share time with you,” another said.

Steve Paikin, the TVO host who moderated the event, and those who came to the open microphone asked Black questions on U.S. presidents, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and media coverage of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Not a single tough question was asked, such as whether he will retract the bitter descriptions of Canada he spouted when he renounced his citizenship, about the Order of Canada he holds even though he’s a convicted criminal or his ongoing legal battles with Canadian and U.S. tax authorities.

Indeed, Black has become a phenomenon in Canada since getting out of jail.

Prestigious groups such as the Empire Club eagerly invite him to speak at their luncheons, charities court his presence at fundraising events, Vision TV will broadcast a talk show he will co-host, and newspapers and other media outlets publish his writings.

At the same time, veteran journalists, such as CBC’s Peter Mansbridge, conduct obsequious interviews with Black, asking soft questions that won’t offend and give off the air of members of the elite chatting with each other.

Can you imagine the Empire Club or the media being so welcoming of any other convicted criminal?

Is it because so many of us are establishment-struck?

At the Toronto event, Black pontificated on presidents from Washington to Reagan, talked about the media’s “shabby, endless denigration” of Rob Ford and heaped scorn on Wynne for her “weaselly” apology over the spending scandal stemming from the cancellation of two gas plants.

What was significant about Black’s performance was how comfortable he has become in his post-prison life, speaking out without fear or favour on everything from Ford’s ups and downs to Wynne’s performance as premier.

Just as important was how accepting those in the audience were of Black. Despite claiming he now has a greater sense of humility, he still is as contemptuous and dismissive of critics as ever, still sends “libel-chill” fears through newsrooms and still refuses to apologize for slagging this country in his haste to gain admittance to the U.K. House of Lords.

While Black may disagree, it’s fair to ask him why, as an ex-con — and a foreigner to boot — he shouldn’t be kicked out of the Order of Canada, why he ought to remain a member of the Privy Council for Canada, why he should be allowed to stay here on a temporary visa and why he ought to be permitted to regain his citizenship if he applies.

Fair questions, but at this week’s love-in, no one bothered to ask.

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Bob Hepburn's column appears Thursday.

bhepburn@thestar.ca

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