Ottawa, Canada – A protest by hundreds of students led organizers to cancel a Tuesday night speech by American conservative commentator Ann Coulter at the University of Ottawa.
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A spokesman for the organizers said Coulter was advised against appearing after about 2,000 “threatening” students crowded the entrance to Marion Hall, posing a security threat.
“It would be physically dangerous for Ann Coulter to proceed with this event,” said conservative political activist Ezra Levant inside the hall. “This is an embarrassing day for the University of Ottawa and their student body . . . who chose to silence her through threats and intimidation.”
A protest organizer, international studies student Mike Fancie, said he was pleased they were able to stop Coulter from speaking.
“What Ann Coulter is practicing is not free speech, it’s hate speech,” he said. “She’s targeted the Jews, she’s targeted the Muslims, she’s targeted Canadians, homosexuals, women, almost everybody you could imagine.”
The announcement of the cancellation was greeted with shouts of “Shame” and “We want Ann” from about 100 people inside the hall. Outside protesters mockingly chanted “Goodbye Ann Coulter.”
About 10 Ottawa police cars were called to the scene, but there were no incidents.
Coulter expressed her outrage, calling the University of Ottawa a “bush league” institution in an interview for The Washington Times.
“This has never happened before,” she told the newspaper. “I go to the best schools, Harvard, the Ivy League and those kids are too intellectually proud” to threaten speakers.
Levant blamed the bedlam on university academic vice-president Francois Houle, who had written Coulter to warn her that Canadian laws make provisions for hate speech.
“Promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges,” he warned her in the letter, which Coulter quickly leaked to the media.
The university has refused to comment since. Levant said Houle’s advice to Coulter had emboldened students to block her appearance.
Coulter, a best-selling author and syndicated columnist, was in the middle of a three-city tour of Canada, which began at the University of Western Ontario in London on Monday, and ends in Calgary on Thursday.
The event in London went without incident, but not without controversy.
When answering questions from students, Coulter told a 17-year-old Muslim student to “take a camel” instead of the flying carpet she has previously suggested Muslims use for transportation. Coulter later told CTV that the “camel” remark was a joke.
the liberal disease is alive and well in Canada
The feigned outrage and screaming were all weapons against free speech; their aim was to shut up Coulter and it worked! Everyone knows Coulter uses satire & wit to make tough political points that gelded politicians are too fearful to make. Canada has lost a bit of her soul by yielding to Muslim extremism.
i’m sure if Ahmanajad was the guest, these liberal freaks would have no problem with letting him speak about destroying the Zionist state…
I don’t understand. Who is outraged at her comment? The camel?
It was a stupid thing for her to say. She is essentially Rush Limbaugh in a dress and the school should have known that such an inflammatory figure would not play well there. It was a stupid idea to bring her there in the first place. There are plenty of good Conservative speakers who would have been better choices, not only for their civilized tone, but their far greater intelligence as well.
Ann Coulter is an anti-semite who made remarks against Jews before, and what she said is not free speech it’s hate speech.
what is wrong with a camel? i thought they still use them in their hometown?
Canada is another European socialist country on the wrong side of the pond!
They’re cowering and whimpering in fear of the muslims and will do anything to be their friends.
The only thing Canada likes about freedom and democracy is the United States’ health care system so their “big” people can come across and get good healthcare.
(The Canadiens are the most upset with Obamacare, because they already know how good socialized medicine is, and now they will have nowhere to go!)
I’m for anything that’ll shut Coulter up, she’s a bigot hiding behind a conservative agenda and it puzzles me that anyone would pay her money to speak. I’m also surprised at the support she seems to be getting here, she’s made plenty of anti-Jew comments.
I wonder if they would have a cancelled a MUSLIM hate speaker because of Isrealis protesting… And if they can’t provide security against a Hateful Crowd then what country are they? Do they have Police? Riot Police? ANYBODY HOME???
Canada is owned by France.
Leftists are always solidly in favor of free speech (for leftists). Ann Coulter says some disagreeable things (and some flat-out wrong things), but she’s smart and she’s funny, and it’s hard to imagine a better tribute to the merit of her positions than the fact that her opponents have an easier time shouting her down than arguing with her.
You know, in her case it is totally appropriate for her to be shut down once in awhile. When challenged, she explains away her most outrageous and mean-spirited comments as “jokes”. Her whole reason for being is to create controversy, garner attention and sell books – only a psychopath could really believe some of the things she says!
To bring people back on point, it does not matter whether you perceive her to be an anti-Semite, or evangelical Protestant, she has a right to speak and you have a right not to pay attention. What you do not have is a right to keep her from speaking.
“I despise what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” – Voltaire
No one has a right to shut up anyone, because they don’t like them or their message. If you don’t like them personally, or what you presume what they might say. Take a number, wait your turn. If you really had something important to say then perhaps they would be paying you anti-speakers or inviting you some place. This is called freedom. The U.S. has freedom the last time I checked. No matter what some may say, people with a dream still come to the U.S. Here you can say what you want, but maybe not healthcare… We lost some of that liberty.
It is NOT anti-semitic to consider Jews “unperfected” people. In practise, it comes out to pro-semitism, since evangelicals are bigger supporters of Israel and Jews than most Jews are. And there is no conflict in it! If JC doesn’t come again, Xians will stay supportive – no problem. And if he does, then Xians will expect us to convert. But since he won’t….. 🙂
As for attracting Jews to Xianity – c’mon, people! We *want* people to choose derech Hashem – they cannot choose if they are given no options. Hashem gives us that choice, and we must openly *market* Judaism to our own people. The only Jews who convert to Xianity are Jews who have not been “sold” on why they should be Jewish. So if Coulter supports converting Jews, some of you have a problem with that because it makes *us* look bad, not because we should resent Xians who are true to their own beliefs.
Ann Coulter should be free to speak, and in a free arena, the truth will out.
What did she say anyway?
Ride on a camel, sounds like she has a great sense of humor.