Ann Coulter not welcome at U of O, president of student federation says
Group attempts to silence U.S. right-winger’s talk Ottawa Citizen March 20 2010
The president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa has barred a volunteer organizer from putting up posters advertising the upcoming appearance of American right-wing columnist and political commentator Ann Coulter.
She is to talk about political correctness, media bias and freedom of speech Tuesday night at Marion Hall as part of a Canadian lecture tour. Canadian conservative political activist Ezra Levant will also speak at the event and introduce Coulter.
“The federation does not support Ann Coulter speaking on our campus,” said student president Seamus Wolfe. “We’re trying to work with the administration to see if we can ask her to do her speaking event somewhere else.”
He said the federation controls which posters can be placed inside the University Centre building, while administration officials approve posters at other university buildings. A university spokesperson said the administration did not object to the poster.
Wolfe said the executive of the federation is in agreement that they don’t want to see Coulter speaking on campus.
“There is an interesting line between what is free speech and what is hate speech,” he said. “As difficult as it is to navigate that boundary, Ann Coulter has a history of hate speech and we wouldn’t invite somebody who spreads hate to come to our campus.”
Nicholas Fleet, a U of O economics student, said it’s an “affront” that the student federation has prevented him from putting up posters at the University Centre.
“People like Ann Coulter will come and go, but freedoms such as expression need to be tested and should be respected by student unions,” said Fleet, adding that he’s agreed not to distribute the posters.
But he noted that the posters for Coulter’s appearance were printed by Campus Print, the university printing department that is operated by the student federation.
“They took our money for printing the posters, but in the end they said we couldn’t put up the posters,” said Fleet.
Coulter’s visit is sponsored by the International Free Press Society-Canada and the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.
Coulter could not be reached for comment.
Comments
By Trenchant Commentator on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:19 am
It is unfortunate that you did not include the full text of the University of Ottawa’s Vice-President and Provost Francois Houle’s letter to Ann Coulter. I used Houle’s letter as the basis for my own letter to M. Houle inviting him to my family reunion. I wrote the following:
Dear M. Houle:
On behalf of my family, I wish to invite you to attend the MacGregor Family Reunion in Toronto on April 3, 2010. The MacGregor Family is always delighted to welcome guests to our reunions and hope that they will contribute positively to the meaningful exchange of ideas that is the hallmark of a great family reunions. Well-known American political commentator Ann Coulter may also attend this event.
Mr. Houle, the MacGregor Family has a great respect for personal freedoms, and view same as fundamental to our way of life and protected by Canadian legislation/law. In extending this invitation to you, I would, however, like to remind you, that our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, extend particular protections to children, especially regarding sexual interference. Many MacGregor children – both male and female – will be in attendance at our Family Reunion. As such, I encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what precise protections are extended to MacGregor children as young Canadians before you accept this invitation to attend the MacGregor Family Reunion. You will realize that Canadian law puts significant limits on adult sexual expression vis-a-vis children. For example, enticing a child with the promise of candy in order to secretly expose your genitalia to the child is not only considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges. I therefore ask you, should you choose to accept this invitation and attend the MacGregor Family Reunion, to weigh your words and behaviours with respect and civility in mind. There is a strong tradition in the MacGregor Family, and indeed in Canada, to respect and protect the innocence of children. Hopefully, you will understand and agree that what may, at first glance, seem like unnecessary restrictions on personal behaviours do, in fact, lead not only to a more civilized lifestyle, but to a more meaningful, reasoned and intelligent life overall.
Please respond via email at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,
By David on March 22nd, 2010 at 7:01 pm
It’s unfortunate that such a hate-monger and wack job can find an audience that actually takes her seriously, but it’s also unfortunate that these students at Ottawa U. are giving her exactly the kind of publicity that she so desperately craves. If you don’t play into her hype, you can have faith that she will make an idiot of herself and her opinions will be shot down by anyone with two cents for brains.
By Paul on March 22nd, 2010 at 8:20 pm
To David: Its unfortunate that liberal wing nuts such as yourself are living in lala land and in denial of any truthful statement that may come from Ann. What is more unfortunate is that you have not idea of what you are talking about. You seem to want to express your opinion based on empty rhetoric and fabricated fiction.
Ann has something usually good to say. It is usually based on reality and truth.And it seems to me that the liberal wing nuts do not like to hear the truth. The truth scares them. It reveals their true nature they are liars and cheats and are constantly living in denial.
Please do not associate “hate-mongering with stating a truth or presenting a reality. When Ann makes a statement about Islam she is merely stating a fact, a truth about the character and behavior of certain people. She is not a hate-mongerer and that her statements do not constitute hate speech. I want to right more but need to leave now.
By Uncle Troy on March 22nd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Free speech? So if comments such as “not all muslims are terrorists but all terrorists are muslims” are legitimate. I suppose I could say “the jewish community had undermined the German and Europen economies prior to world war 2 and as such needed immediate removal”. This statement is based on historical evidence and both the United States and Canada had put a halt to jewish immigration prior to WW2 in fears of the same collective minority threatening to do the same to North America. As such the “Allies” pushed for Israel to keep the majority of Jewish immigrants off of our soil.
Is this statement true? Absolutely. Is this statement worthy of discussion? No. Is this statement hurtful? Absolutely. The bottom line is Anne Coulter is not a very intelligent individual (educated and intelligent are not the same). Anne has a tendancy to speak when she should be listening. She reminds me of a Jerry Springer, tons of flair with very little in the way of substance. It’s a pity we have such ignorant people hungry for attention be it good or bad; “Just Look at Me”! Really such a pity. In the end I prefer to fall back on some wise words; “those who speak do not know and those who know do not speak”. Shame on both you liberals and conservatives, nothing in life is clear cut, black and white. We all live in the grey like it or not.
By the Paul; it’s spelt write not “right”, hate monger not “hate mongerer” and it should be Anne usually has something good to say not “Anne has usually something good to say” but that is the degree of literacy one would expect from the author of your post.
I imagine I’ll be seeing you 3 on the playground during recess.
By Camped on March 22nd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
By christianarchisti on March 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 pm
You’re unlawful combatants, you are guilty of crimes against humanity, you are not any free press, you are guilty of crimes in the U.S.A. and abroad as the traitors you are. You are owned by the Rothschild Monarchy, and the u.s.a. is one of their personal holdings. The u.s.a. belongs to the Rothschilds that have printed your money and have owned their third version of the illegally unconstitutionally implemented Federal Reserve Bank since 1913. The Rothschilds conquered the Commonwealth back in 1815, co-opted all it’s functions and took the Bank of England, and have had the Windsor Royal family on death row since. Adolf Hitler was Baron De Rothschild son. Just as in the days of Caesar there were little bloodthirsty kings in Judea like Herod under Caesar. The Rothschilds created the derivatives markets that the Bank of International Settlements claimed was $1.1 Quadrillion a year just a few years ago after having began in the year 2000 from nothing but hot air, hype, horse shit and loads of fake fractional reserve ratio multipliers. Prescott Bush the grandfather of george w. and father of george 1 bush was convicted of trading secrets with the enemy, nazi’s america created. The u.s.a. isn’t a democracy but is the Rothschilds owned monarchy and not their home. You refuse to mention the Rothschilds $700 Trillion net worth that some economists clsim is still under valuing their paper net worth. The list of lies you perpetuate and the facts and history you omit are all part of the reason you face summary execution in the U.S.A. and abroad. Had it not been for the Rothschild monarchy you never would have had work as fake journalists. The illuminatti bankers you work for deliberately created an over valuation of usa residential real estate across the usa during the sub-prime boom to the total of some $ 40 Trillion over valued residential real estate, $ 66 Trillion in Credit Default Swaps alone, then used fractional reserve lending ratios to pump up those extra fictional dollars multiplying that $40 Trillion by any where from 10 to 10,000 to one and then going around the world buying up all the assets with your monopoly ponzi money and having successfully noosed your own usa and other nations financially for generations to the Rothschilds corrupted Federal Reserve Bank system. Off the bi-metallic backed currency system, then onto the gold backed system and off then on to the FIAT fake system today, Order # 11110 was one way J.F.Kennedy tried to take the monarchistic privilege from the Rothschilds and they had him killed, like the Rothschilds had Lincoln killed when he attempted to float $ 400 million in Greenbacks instead of pay the bankers %28-%36 percent interest rates to fight the civil war, like they tried to kill President Jackson that successfully ousted their previous federal reserve banks. You, the fake journalists, coulter and erza levant evil idiots, are part of the Rothschilds intelligence team, morons on the front line designed to burn and then toss back in the closet to be re-opened when ever they need commited extremist mass murdering tratorious usa liars. This group of traitors has been hired by the Rothschilds to ddestroy their own country and enjoy doing so. You hid the obvious facts that the u.s.a. does 911 to itself regular, U.S.S. Maine, Lucitania, Pearl Harbor, Gulf of Tonkin, and other less flamboyant false flag operations to yourself and then frame and blame others. The c.i.a. created Al Qaeda long ago, perhaps you’d like to foget the Muslim Brotherhood the c.i.a. has been using for almost 50 years in the Middle East. Maybe you’re prefer not to talk about Operation Gladio and Operation Condor in which you murdered the Italian Prime Minister and installed a fascist regime in Italy after WW11, murdered Iranian Prime Minister democratically elected and installed the Shah who tortured and murdered millions. Books like ” The Rise of the Fourth Reich ” are gospel truth and you in the medeia refuse to mention the dynastic traitor Bush family for what they been a participant in. You refuse to add the book ” Dope Inc. ” or ” The Two trillion a Year McMafia ” or any reference to any real factual historical material. You have brought us into a period of history where modern supposedly civilized man is less educated than Neanderthal man, no clue of higher math like the ” Le Bombo Bone ” 37,000 B.C. and those wily old cave and tent dwellers leading their fields of finance in shorting puts futures and options trading with the merchant banker neighbors for their years seasonal efforts in bear skins black berries and salmon. Despite 2000 year old Jesus and the rest of the planet having a good grasp of usury and gold trading the fake Ashkenazi Jewish Monarchy running the world today the Rothschilds and some of their fake Jewish henchmen the Bloombergs, Blankfeins, aspers, bronfmans, Cohens, and others have chosen to create the most retarded group of homo sapiens the planet will ever know. Bleeding science backwards works spectaularly well for their ghost monarchies financial success. Canadians having successfully colluded to fix the price on gasoline at $4.00 per gallon domestically after they deliberately sabatogued their development of the worlds largest supply of gasoline and developing only half the barrels per day production they should have been producing, while sitting on over 3.3 Trillion barrels of recoverable oil. Gasoline in nations with way less supply combined than Canada are Venezuela with 12 cents per gallon, Russia with 24 cents per gallon and Saudi Arabia with 45 cents per gallon, Dubai only has big oil pay taxes in their petrocracy but in Canada big oil pays no royalties and no taxes. You Canadian , Commonwealth, and Yanks are responsible for starving your own and creating 30 Famine wars based on the escalation of the cost of food you forced upon the planet. The omission of the most important facts in human history while inisting on leading the world into the Rothschilds own personal hang man’s noose got you all exectued legally, lawfully and righteously. I’m getting bored of writing all the important facts you chose to bastardize. It’s your turn to die by the swords with which you have so willingly slain your own babies and Mothers.
christianarchisti
By Kyla on March 22nd, 2010 at 11:13 pm
I am a firm believer in freedom of speech, regardless of what the view point is. Every person has the right to express themselves, their opinions and gain knowledge and understanding through other’s ideas and concepts. Without this, we as the Western civilization would not be where we are at today. I do agree that there is a fine line between stating fact and being just plain rude though such as in the above post. I do not recall stating truths ever being “crimes against humanity”. Crimes against humanity, as Ann Coulter would most likely say, is when a terrorist, probably Muslim, looks you in the eye and blows themselves up, and everyone else around them. Innocent children, women and men, because they believe they’ll have their 72 virgins. Selfish, sadistic people who commit crimes against humanity. Fact.
By Ophelia on March 23rd, 2010 at 8:01 am
There is a fine line between freedom of speech and hate mongering…Coulter has not only crossed the line but spit on it!
By Brian on March 23rd, 2010 at 8:26 am
In my opinion the concept of religion is the major divisionary factor in humanity.When marching to war,each side is confident they have their “GOD”
in full support of a position which will kill,maim and crush the opposition,
be they man,women or child.Until we move past these archaic beliefs,we as a species have little hope of overall survival.
By Rej March on March 23rd, 2010 at 9:59 am
Well, there is free speech and stupid useless flaming. Ann Coulter is more like the second option, just saying the most stupid stuff that can inflame an audience so that she get more coverage in the media. Just by taking a look at her speech at the Canadian university, we can see that anyone can make such lame arguments and baseless assumptions which most of it doesn’t even make sens. Like saying that Canada is lucky that the USA didn’t invade it yet…. as if Canada was not part of the commonwealth and we didn’t had the face of the Queen of England on our money. I don’t think that Great Britain would agree with an invasion of Canada by the Yankees. Someone should give her a course in history and politics , because she is obviously not aware of many geo political facts.
Ok to extreme right wing free speech, but at least, you could send one who has a brain and know what they are talking about. That brainless coulter is paid to make a speech that any 20 years old uneducated fascist can do… at least she is so lame that we don’t really care about what she has to say. It doesn’t even worth it to get mad a someone who doesn’t have all is required neurons…
By James Cohen on March 23rd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Rej, suppose I had a different view of history than you do. Then I would consider you to be guilty of “stupid useless flaming” and then by your rules, you would not be allowed to speak.
No, I think I’ll stick with free speech for all. Thanks for playing.
Same to Ophelia.
By Allah Akbar on March 23rd, 2010 at 10:44 am
Allah Akbar
A Fatwa against Ass Cuntler – oops I mean Anne Coulter.
Is she pre-op or post-op transsexual?
Does she use all that hot nasty talk in the bedroom?
By James Cohen on March 23rd, 2010 at 11:10 am
Allah Akbar I’m sure feels he deserves free speech for himself to use however he sees fit. Coulter, who would never say anything quite as vile or crude as this doesn’t deserve it I bet right?
By mike on March 23rd, 2010 at 11:38 am
what happened to George Galloway at the border>??
Yet the conservatives invite ANN to speak and spew hate from her possessed brain.
this bitch can rot in hell
By James on March 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Sorry, but the University of Ottawa has the right to do anything they want. If they don’t want Coulter to speak then she should not be there.
If you don’t like this woman then you don’t have to listen to her and that is what the University of Ottawa is doing.
To be honest, I don’t want to listen to her at all. This is why I would never go.
Same Amercian shock and awe effect to achieve political gain.
By James Cohen on March 23rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Mike:
The conservatives did not invite Coulter to speak. A group called IFPS-Canada did. Galloway was not turned away at the border because of the Conservatives. A border guard did because Galloway had violated Canadian Law on funding terrorism by giving money to Hamas. He did in fact give his scheduled speeches in Canada by teleconference. So there was no violation to his right of freedom of speech whatsoever.
You need to get at least some facts straight.
By David on March 23rd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Ann will appear on the Michael Coren show tonight March 23, 2010. I would suggest that you watch, listen and learn. Free speach and free thought are the basis of any and all democracy’s. Perhaps those who object most to her thooghts, comments, ideas…should look at their own lives…and the prejudice that lies within……
By sodapop on March 23rd, 2010 at 4:33 pm
The death of children is never an easy task. It challenges your sense of professionalism and puts you face to face with the strongest of emotions; a mother’s inconsolable grief at the loss of her child.
On Sunday, I went through this unforgettable experience – four times.
It started out with news coverage of a funeral for 16-year-old Mohamad Qadus and his cousin Usaid – 18 years. They were shot dead by Israeli soldiers at the conclusion of a day of demonstrations in their small village of Iraq Burin.
The mood was so sombre; you could feel it walking around… Men silent and serious, women distraught and in tears.
As the older men prepared the graves, Mohamad’s and Usaid’s friends sprinkled rose petals where their friends will finally rest, looking down on the graves in disbelief.
Most disturbing perhaps were the children, sitting on the edge of the freshly dug graves, sharing their account of what happened on Saturday.
I wondered how these young eyewitnesses can forget the scenes of blood and chaos they saw. “He died right there behind this house! I saw Mohamad taking his last breath,” one kid told me.
Being children, their wait for the funeral was a mix of storytelling and play; odd as it may sound; morbid as it may seem.
Iraq Burin is a small village – population 1100. Residents here are like a family; many are related by blood and most are childhood friends. The loss of two teens here is one shared by all.
Then came the mourners, bearing the bodies of Mohamad and Usaid; for a final visit home – a last chance for their mothers to kiss them goodbye.
The sound of women wailing in grief is unmistakable and this Sunday, the usual calm in Iraq Burin was shattered by it.
“Oh my darling!” Usaid’s mother kept calling out. She followed the procession, supported by women, too grief-stricken to provide much comfort.
The Israeli army denied its soldiers used live fire in Iraq Burin. But an X-ray of Usaid’s gunshot wound is unmistakable – a cylinder-like metal object is lodged in his brain. That, doctors told me, is without a shadow of doubt, a live round.
As the funeral in Iraq Burin was concluding, we received news of another shooting nearby. We quickly moved towards the scene of the shooting: Awarta, southeast of Nablus.
The paramedics were held up by the Israeli security forces so we went to hospital, where they were heading.
Being journalists, our job is to dig up information – no matter what. So we got on the phone, searching for any relatives of the victims of the latest shooting. We found one; Jamal – but he had no idea his siblings were dead. We didn’t tell him.
Mohamad and Salah Qwariq, both 19, were shot dead by Israeli soldiers as they looked for scrap metal in their village, Awarta.
The Israeli army quickly issued a statement saying the two young men tried to stab Israeli soldiers on regular patrol.
One of the teen’s father arrives; shaken, his face full of disbelief. He succumbs to tears – as men run to comfort him.
According to Muslim custom, the way to honour the dead is through a quick burial. So Mohamad and Salah were quickly prepared and rushed away to their village.
There, the shock was unmistakable. Salah’s mother prepared breakfast for her son in the morning and now, he had returned to her in a white shroud, for a final kiss, a final goodbye.
Hundreds of mourners carried the two young men to the cemetery; their chants could be heard from the four corners of the village.
As the men prayed ahead of the burial, grief and pride kept some of the teens’ friends silent and immobile. One couldn’t stand up;
empty-eyed, he kept looking at the earth then ahead, where his friends now lay on the ground.
Another sat on a large rock, pondering, it seemed, the day’s quick and unbelievable events.
Iraq Burin and Awarta are villages regularly attacked by Israeli settlers, who live nearby. Armed and under the protection of Israeli soldiers, settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar frequently raid Awarta.
In Iraq Burin, the settlers of Bracha regularly raid the village, attacking residents and burning or destroying the residents’ prized olive groves. That’s why the residents started the weekly Saturday protests, to confront the raiding settlers.
These attacks and abuses, by soldiers and settlers, have long been documented by human rights organisations. But like so many abuses that are part of daily life under Israeli occupation here, the lives and plight of so many only catch world attention when they become news.
Perhaps that’s why the Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayad, revived a long-standing Palestinian demand for international protection.
their is no balance in this world and that’s why as humans we will never see what the other is seeing. hanna
By Winston on March 23rd, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Ann Coulter was excellent in London last night. I really enjoyed her speech. Lovely!
Oh btw, UofO union thugs can piss their pants knowing Ann Coulter is coming to town
By James on March 23rd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Blah blah blah, don’t need to hear a wind bag like Coulter preach democracy.
By Proud Canadian on March 23rd, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Well, It is no surprise that International free press society is supporting onne of its speakers and idelogical representatives. Canada is a peaceful country where haters are not welcome, we are an inclusive society where all canadians from all faiths, origins, cultures are living in harmony. We don’t want to become a violent society as this promoted by Cutler and co. She doesn’t even recognize that Canada should exist, what is she coming to do in my country.
Bench or red necks runing this website using falsly notions of freedom of speech and they have no caharcteristics of being international except collecting far right haitists all over the world such as from Holland.
Canada will never allow fascists to spread their ideology.
By dave on January 22nd, 2011 at 9:38 pm
I would rather listen to Ann Coulter than one of those Rabid Islamic Woman beaters that think the honour of the Man is more important than the Honour of the Woman.
I would also rather Listen to Ann Coulter than someone that tries to bar her speech.
By refusing to have her talk at the U of O You have only bowed down to people who do not want her ideas to be communicated those who have not had a chance to make a decision themselves. This is the height of repression.