The Canadian Human Rights Commission has been petitioned by Ann Coulter (political pundit from the USA) to investigate the promotion of hatred against her by the University of Ottawa provost. After a letter was circulated by the provost, the ensuing riots and bedlam forced Miss Coulter to hire bodyguards for her safety and the University of Ottawa to cancel her speech due to actual threats to her safety. The U of O student union also had a hand in the incitement of hatred as they place placards about the campus calling for action against Miss Coulter.
The HRC's mandate calls for investigation when hatred is promoted against identifiable groups. Is there actionable evidence here with the riots and threats of personal violence?
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The HRC has lost credibility and respect with many people here in Canada because it has far overstepped its mandate. And many commentators here are critical of the actions of the U of O’s provost and the protesters. (But does Ann Coulter not travel regularly with a bodyguard?) I watched an hour-long, one-on-one friendly interview with her and was not impressed. She is loud (literally) even one-on-one and so disrespectful of the targets of her criticisms (not the interviewer) that, for me, this detracted from any legitimate argument or comment she may have had. I could hardly hear what she said (despite the volume!) because of her style. It reminded me of an evangelist who came to the small town where I lived for a few years. He and his soloist came onstage like Big City T.O. and felt so out of place -- even for me from Big City T.O.! But he was discerning enough to recognize this and humble enough to admit it and he vowed he would do a better job of researching places he would speak at in the future. Ann Coulter’s shock style felt so out of place here. I even felt embarrassed.
Coulter's style is a carefully developed satire of how the targets of her rhetoric behave when they are making their political points...with mountains of disrespect. Case in point, the way U of O treated the arrival of Miss Coulter. I know that most Canadians (and many Americans!) find her style abrasive, but I believe it has more to do with her political leanings than her style. I have seen the nasty (left-wing) protests in Canadian cities and in the halls of the Academy, so there is precedent. For instance, David Suzuki calling for the incarceration of people who dissent from his Global Warming perspective is tyrannical, yet he is given government money and respect. That, I think, is Ann Coulter's point. The left-wing progressives get away with intimidation tactics and threats of violence without criticism, without alarm, without sanction.
Coulter makes me uneasy when I watch her, but it is the same reason that similar voices in the left-wing media make me uneasy. She has adopted their, in-your-face ways. If Canada allow such ways for the political left, it must allow it for the political right. As for her volume?, what can I say, she is from the Northeast, go figure.
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