Posted on 03/23/2010 7:16:21 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
OTTAWASecurity officials have scrubbed American right-winger Ann Coulters speech at the University of Ottawa after a boisterous protest prompted concerns for her safety.
A spokesman for the group that organized the event said there were fears for Coulters well-being after about two thousand people gathered outside the venue to protest her presence there.
Coulter is a darling of the U.S. right-wing who uses incendiary language to sell millions of books as well as her syndicated column.
She sparked more controversy during a speech at University of Western Ontario Monday night when she told a 17-year-old Muslim student to take a camel instead of a the flying carpet she has previously suggested Muslims use for transportation.
Even before her Canadian tour began, Coulter received a pre-emptive and private caution about the limits of free speech in this country from the provost of the University of Ottawa.
The letter was immediately leaked to select conservative news organizations, with Coulter telling one that the university was threatening to criminally prosecute me for my speech.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
Also, here's an UPDATE from Ann...
...with her first public comments AFTER the leftists shut her down....From www.vancouversun.com:...and, she EXCORIATES them!
Ann Coulter lambastes University of Ottawa and Canada's 'free' speech
Its always the bush league schools, Coulter contendsBy Zev Singer and Kristy Nease, Ottawa Citizen March 23, 2010 9:05 PM
In this file photo, television personality Ann Coulter speaks to the audience.
Photograph by: Lucas Jackson , Reuters
OTTAWA After protesters at the University of Ottawa prevented Ann Coulter from giving a speech Tuesday night, the American conservative writer said it proved the point she came to make free speech in Canada leaves much to be desired.
Then she said what she really thought of the student protesters who surrounded Marion Hall, making it to unsafe, in the view of her bodyguard, for the pundit to attempt entry.
The University of Ottawa is really easy to get into, isnt it? she said in an interview after the cancelled event. I never get any trouble at the Ivy League schools. Its always the bush-league schools.
Coulter said she has been speaking regularly at university campuses for a decade. While she has certainly been heckled, she said this is the first time an engagement has been cancelled because of protesters.
This has never, ever, ever happened before even at the stupidest American university, she said.
Coulter remarked on the reception she has had since entering the country.
Since Ive arrived in Canada, Ive been denounced on the floor of Parliament which, by the way, is on my bucket list my posters have been banned, Ive been accused of committing a crime in a speech that I have not yet given, I was banned by the student council, so welcome to Canada!
The accusation of which Coulter speaks is a reference to an e-mail she received from University of Ottawa vice-president and provost Francois Houle on Friday, warning her that freedom of speech is defined differently in Canada than in the U.S. and that she should take care not to step over the line.
Coulter said that letter set the tone for and encouraged the protesters. She said its well known on the campus speaking circuit that conservatives need to travel with security staff, as she did.
Im pretty sure little Francois A-Houle does not need to travel with a bodyguard, she said. I would like to know when this sort of violence, this sort of protest, has been inflicted upon a Muslim who appear to be, from what Ive read of the human rights complaints, the only protected group in Canada. I think Ill give my speech tomorrow night in a burka. That will protect me.
Canadian conservative political commentator Ezra Levant, the other speaker travelling with Coulter on the three-city tour, presented by the International Free Press Society of Canada, told the half-filled hall that no more people would be able to enter and that Coulter had been advised it would not be safe for her to appear.
Coulters bodyguard ultimately made the judgment, after conferring with security staff on site.
In a short speech, Levant said Tuesday was an embarrassing day for the University of Ottawa and their student body, who could not debate Ann Coulter . . . who chose to silence her through threats and intimidation, just like their vice-president did.
Levant laid the blame squarely on Houle.
A fish rots from the head down, he said. Francois Houle got his wish. He telegraphed to the community that the University of Ottawa is not a place for free debate.
Houle could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Levant said the spectacle showed just how eroded our Canadian values of free speech have become especially on university campuses.
I think this has turned into a teaching moment for the entire country, a reminder that freedom of speech is a Canadian value, he said.
Rita Valeriano was one of several protesters inside the hall who, with chants of Coulter go home! shouted down the International Free Press Society of Canada organizer who was addressing the crowd.
Valeriano, a 19-year-old sociology and womens-studies student, said later that she was happy Coulter was unable to speak the hatred she had planned to.
On campus, we promise our students a safe and positive space, she said. And thats not what (Coulter) brings.
Outside the hall, Sameena Topan, 26, a conflict studies and human rights major at the U of O, spoke to the Citizen on behalf of a group of protesters.
We have a large group of students that can very clearly outline the difference between discourse and discrimination, Topan said of the protest. We wanted to mobilize and make sure thats clear on campus, that theres a line between controversy and discrimination, and Ann Coulter has crossed it. Numerous times.
We had concerns about (the event) at the beginning, but especially after we saw what happened at the University of Western Ontario, when she called out a Muslim girl there and was saying she needs to take a camel because Muslim people shouldnt fly. That kind of stuff just reaffirmed everything that we were afraid of and thats when . . . we really got worried.
Topan was pleased to hear the students behind her shout, Hate speech cancelled! in unison.
I think thats great. I think we accomplished what we were here to do, to ensure that we dont have her discriminatory rhetoric on our campus, she said.
Jonathan Reid, 18, a Carleton political science student and a fan of Coulter, brought a book to be signed.
During the protest outside after the event was cancelled, Reid and a group of other students shouted a counter-chant, No more commies on our campus!, while pumping their fists. The Coulter protesters moved forward to face them, and TV crew lights lit angry faces.
Its a shame, Reid said of the cancellation. They claim were the intolerant ones, yet theyre the ones who refuse to allow a Conservative speaker to come to campus. That is the definition of intolerance.
U of O political science student Faris Lehn, 23, said he doesnt support Coulters message, but had hoped for a debate.
Its too bad she didnt get to speak because I think she would have made herself look more ridiculous than anyone here could have made her look, Lehn said.
The problem with Ann Coulter . . . is that the arguments that she uses dont necessarily promote good debate, they promote this, he said, glancing at the chanting crowd.
Ottawa Citizen
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
the delicious irony here is this would play like Shakespear on Broadway live by state run media.
But , ooops...Matthews, Olbermann, Mitchell, will show it w/ a sad face...but dancin Dixie inside...but............................. that can’t be seen
“So, Canada, hows that tolerance and diversity workin out for you?”
Not great, it needs work. But then again there’s hope, our elected leader is neither Marxist, nor Muslim.
How’s that “hopey changey” thing workin’ for you?
:o)
I’m Canadian and like the States, the universities are breeding grounds for the left. Nothing will change on the political landscape until the right takes back the universities. Communists were cowardly and fled into the universities after the 60s protests to indoctrinate the kids — and they have succeeded. The place needs to be fumigated.
It won’t be long before the U.S. is JUST LIKE Canada.. We’ve just adopted their health care system. Thank God that in the United States, we still (barely) have freedom of speech: “F” CANADA.
Britain is far ahead.
He wouldn’t lift a finger to defend this country. He made that clear very recently.
Liberalism is Fascism, and it creates Nazis.
While doing this, take cell phone pictures of them. Post the photos on a website "racistdisruptors.com", where people can identify them and out them for their Dem activist affiliations.
Actually, it'll be worse than what Canada has now. Currently, they benefit from American innovation in drugs, medical devices, and medical techniques. With incentives reduced and destroyed, expect medical innovation to decline. Higher general taxes will impact computer hardware and software innovation, too.
We've been pulling Canada, the Brits, and the rest of the world along. With world medical socialism much of that effect will be history.
I definitely no longer recognize it... So much different than the world I grew up in. Was at a local restaurant/bar tonight with my eldest daughter — saw a “kid” (early 20s) wearing a CCCP sweatshirt. I said loud enough for him to hear — “I hope he’s wearing that out of irony”!
Just gives her “inside knowledge” really... I don’t see anything wrong with that considering she USED to date him!
Seems like she learned from her mistake, and would take the same attitude you do today when advising other women...
Forget that — the time to “go along to get along” has ENDED as of Sunday night... At least IMHO.
Interesting how they call it a “No Show” rather than “She had the plug pulled on her and denied Free Speech”
I believe in France you cannot be tried as a member of a group, only as an individual. In other words, there is no concept of “hate crime.” There’s a phrase for this tenet of law—can’t think of it right now. So France is ahead of both the U.S. and Canada in this regard.
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