University cancels talk by conservative firebrand Ann Coulter

By Tamara Baluja

The University of Ottawa cancelled a speech by American firebrand conservative Ann Coulter on Tuesday, just moments before its scheduled start, because organizers feared it would incite violent protests.

I think it should have been canceled - no, never even proposed - based on her ridiculous remarks.

The woman actually said that Muslims ought to take "flying carpets" instead of airplanes at a talk at the University of Western Ontario. When asked by a Muslim student what alternatives she would suggest in lieu of a flying the carpet, Coulter told her to “take a camel.”

She claims that her statement was taken out of context. That it was meant to be humorous.

Frankly, I don't see anything humorous. It's offensive to me - and I'm not even Muslim. It's objectionable on a more personal level. I did read an interesting blog by a London Free Press columnist Ian Gillespie, who rightly pointed out that being opinionated is not illegal. 

"If Coulter's ideas are truly dangerous, then let's counter them with better ones," Gillespie writes. "But for goodness sake, let's remember what an 18th century French philosopher wrote: "Think for yourselves," said Voltaire. "And let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.""

That's all true . . . to an extent.

Inviting someone like Coulter to a talk at a university gives her and what she has to say a sense of legitimacy. I'm not sure how many people take her seriously, but to invite her talk at an academic institution suggests she has some degree of expertise.

Additionally, Coulter's remarks come on the same day the Canadian Federation of Students released a new report on campus racism in Ontario universities and colleges.

The report "tracked this through students' involvement in on-campus events, problems students have had with exclusionary course curricula and academic policies that disproportionately affect students who are racialised."

Coulter is a part of that system that trashes minorities, and as such, I don't believe Coulter should have been invited to either UWO or University of Ottawa.

And yet, Coulter says that she has been a victim of a "hate crime" after her controversial rhetoric prompted a warning letter from the provost of the University of Ottawa even before she entered the country.

She has a tendency to hide behind her statements by calling them satirical, but what is the satire behind suggesting a camel ride?

Good for the provost for sending that warning letter and good for the students protesting against such rhetoric.

Tamara Baluja is a radio room reporter, a journalism student and a former GA at CFRB News. tbaluja@thestar.ca.

Comments

[Adam]

What is it that you are so afraid of? You state that giving Ann Coulter a venue gives her a sense of legitimacy that is undeserved. Who are you to force that on people though? What gives you the right to make that judgment on others' behalf?

Why not just let the woman speak, and let the masses make their own judgment on her words?

[Dr Jack]

Responding to Adam:

There is judgement involvement in everything we do. Coulter's invitation to speak did not arrive out of some magical place in the heavens the decisions was made by humans exercising judgment and for the most part administrators exercising judgment on behalf of our country, given that our educational institutions are publicly funded. We have every right to question these judgement and we do so everyday in many facets of the public domain. So who gave us the right to have an opinion on who gets to speak on a certain topic in a publicly funded forum in our country? our constitution. I am fully aware of the need for free speech but we are not talking about free speech here we are talking about having an input into who speaks in our public forums and respectfully there are many other speakers and academics who can speak to the same issues constructively.

[Adam]

Dr Jack:

So you have a problem with the use of public funds to disperse what are, in your "humble" opinion, not constructive thoughts? What about the use of public funds to pay the salaries of approximately 10 police cars worth of officers to protect peaceful individuals who just wanted to see what the fuss was all about and let Coulter's thoughts stand or fall on their own merit? Does that not offend you?

Though it was held on a university campus that is funded publicly, the speech itself was organized by private (shudder the thought) organizations, and thus was not the result of public funding.

You disagreed with my words, so did you phone my internet provider and have my internet shut down, and stage violent protests outside of my home? No, you refuted my thoughts and proved my point. Coulter should not be given "special" treatment simply because she is controversial.

As far as I am aware, there is no right to not be offended in the constitution of Canada. Imagine how silent we would be if that were true.

"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." ~John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859

[John Ng]

Coulter's extreme comments are not abnormal and are now a part of her shtick. If we stop giving her attention, such as this blog, then her popularity will wane and we may not have to hear from her, in the news or at a university, again.

[KVM]

Ah, sophomoric liberal schoolchildren, who wish to always remain sophomoric. But alas, Springtime is here, and maybe their small brains will soon thaw out.

[anon]

At least Canadians have the intelligence to understand the difference between responsible freedom of speech and hate speech!. The promotion of Hate is WRONG and there is no excuse for it. Everyone knows anti-semitism is wrong---everyone knows rascism against black is wrong---why?---because it is hate. Likewise--any intelligent person will understand slamophobia is wrong and should not be tolerated.

[Marc]

Universities like that one are a farce with those pathetic students. Imagine the irony, it's supposed to be a place of learning, yet those students are the ones allowing to be fed the indoctrination and are most likely just wanting to make a scene (ohhhhh everyone's there!) and wanting to appear soooooo open-minded and over-tolerant, which today translates to CLICHE and not REALLY thinking for yourself. They are just children who need to grow up and WAKE UP. Otherwise, their lives and futures will be nil.