Ann Coulter is a bit of a troublemaker, isn’t she?
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the firebrand conservative columnist. A strong advocate for small government, Coulter is also an unapologetic advocate for Western society’s ethics. She decries the silencing tendencies of political correctness and never gives in to moral relativism. She thinks that you’re wrong and she’s right. Really, though, we all think that way, and it’s nice that someone is actually willing to say it.
Still, I grew up in a tight-knit family headed by a spiritual and respectful grandmother. My family has always valued politeness to a degree that I find refreshing. Indeed, politeness is one of those stereotypical Canadian values that I’m glad we picked up from our British cousins. So even though I admire Coulter’s feistiness, I find that in her quest to outdo her left-wing adversaries she can be rude and hyperbolic. She has a talent for colourful quotes, to say the least.
It has been interesting to watch the firestorm of controversy erupting over Coulter’s cancelled speech at the University of Ottawa. It all began with a small-minded letter from University of Ottawa Vice-President Academic and Provost François Houle. He warned Coulter that “Canadian defamation laws … limit freedom of expression and may differ somewhat from those to which you are accustomed.”
Then there was the protest. A boisterous crowd went mad outside the lecture hall where Coulter was scheduled to speak. Acting on the advice of police and security officials Coulter and the event’s organizers decided to cancel the talk.
There’s been plenty of commentary about the cancellation, and it’s been fascinating trying to decipher Canada’s concept of freedom of expression.
Dare I say these un-Canadian words, but our American neighbours seem to have the right idea on freedom of speech. They don’t have agencies ready to impose lifetime publication bans on those who say what they wish. In Canada, truth doesn’t seem to matter when you’re dragged in front of a human rights commission for saying something the government considers out of line. Here, for speech to be free it seems it must fulfill the legally imposed requirement of being “polite” and “politically correct.” As long as you say something relatively agreeable, you’re welcome to your two cents.
Ann Coulter, who isn’t polite, was told by the provost that she didn’t have the right to say what she wanted. He told her that “what may, at first glance, seem like unnecessary restrictions to freedom of expression do, in fact, lead not only to a more civilized discussion, but to a more meaningful, reasoned, and intelligent one as well.”
Congratulations, Canada: in order to publicly express an opinion, we have to make sure we are civilized, reasoned, and intelligent. I like reason and intelligence as much as the next person, but speech shouldn’t have to be civilized, reasoned, or intelligent to be legal. Speech is an inherent right – to paraphrase Trudeau, the state has no business in the words of the nation.
This attitude of free speech as a privilege and not a right permeates our student culture. This attitude led to the angry reaction of protestors who caused Coulter’s speech to be cancelled. This attitude led to pro-life activist Jose Ruba, at our own university, getting yelled down by protestors whose sole intention was to silence his “Echoes of the Holocaust” presentation.
Hypocrisy permeates these restrictions. Just last year, George Galloway, a strongly pro-Palestine British member of parliament, was determined inadmissible by a border services officer on the grounds that his activities violated Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act. Galloway had, in the past, provided Hamas – which Canada considers a terrorist organization – with financial aid.
Despite this damning evidence, the federal New Democratic Party painted the move by Border Services as a violation of Galloway’s freedom of speech. Then last Thursday, the NDP complained that the government had allowed a conservative like Coulter to enter Canada and “preach hate.”
Financier of terrorists? No problem for the NDP. Outspoken conservative? Get her out of my country. Seems like a double standard to me.
