Canada: Coulter tests the limits of free speech

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!”

The university played right into Coulter’s hands, said Paul Berton in the London, Ontario, Free Press. And so did the media. She baited us, and “like single-minded fish, we lunged at the lure hungrily.” Organizers of Coulter’s speaking tour were praying that some holier-than-thou Canadians would try to shut down the event. They wanted to ignite the very debate that the country is now having over the limits of free speech and what constitutes hate speech. And so it has turned out. Almost everyone has denounced the actions of both the provost and the student protesters. University professors are demanding that Houle resign, or at least apologize to Coulter. One senator has even called for an inquiry into the “erosion of freedom of speech in our country.” Coulter “couldn’t have planned it any better herself—and perhaps actually did.” Maybe that’s why she baited those Muslim students just before her University of Ottawa appearance.

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So were we just used? asked Margaret Wente in the Toronto Globe and Mail. “A loudmouthed, trash-talking, aging babe rides into town, taunts the rubes, engineers the cancellation of her own speaking engagement in a smallish room at a second-tier university, declares herself a victim, and makes prime-time news for an entire week.” Certainly, Coulter made out well. But ultimately, she did us a favor by exposing the stultifying groupthink that prevails on Canadian campuses. Students are taught that “everybody has the right to be free from any kind of insult, upset, or perturbation that might pose a challenge to their peace of mind.” Free speech is seen as dangerous. “If a fading harridan exploits that to the max, who should we blame? Not her.”