Canada: Coulter tests the limits of free speech

Demonstrations outside a lecture hall at the University of Ottawa forced the cancellation of a speech by Ann Coulter.

Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter’s attempt to give a speech in Canada last week degenerated into “slapstick comedy,” said George Jonas in the Toronto National Post. Coulter, known for her provocative, over-the-top insults toward liberals and Muslims, was scheduled to speak at the University of Ottawa. But just before she arrived, Coulter told another group of students in Ontario that Muslims shouldn’t be allowed on airplanes and should travel by “flying carpet.’’ When a student objected, she said, “Take a camel.’’ That prompted University of Ottawa provost François Houle to warn Coulter that if she failed to show “restraint, respect, and consideration,” she could be prosecuted for violating Canadian laws against hate speech. And then “a howling mob demonstrated Canada’s commitment to restraint and respect” by rioting outside the lecture hall, forcing the cancellation of her speech.

Canada “managed to embarrass itself on the world stage,” said Ian Shanley in the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sun. The sight of a torch-and-pitchfork mob in Ottawa, seat of our national government, should appall us all. “Mass chanting of ‘burn the witch’ was probably the only thing missing.” Coulter, of course, will only benefit from the spectacle. “You can bet the publisher of the next book she scribes would like to thank the protesters for the kind of publicity that money can’t buy. Cha-ching!”

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