OTTAWA — In less than 24 hours, right-wing shock pundit Ann Coulter told Canada she didn’t pay much attention to us, slagged one of our universities, and insulted Muslims.
But like an over-the-top Lady Gaga concert, Coulter’s performance has got Canadians intrigued, unsettled and wondering what else she’s got in store as she arrives in Calgary.
The University of Calgary, the next stop on her tour, vowed Wednesday to take all necessary steps to make sure Coulter’s speech on campus Thursday would go off without a hitch.
The conservative author and inflammatory commentator pulled out of her appearance at the University of Ottawa when 1,500 people tried to get into a scheduled speech that was already full to capacity with pre-registered guests.
Another few hundred loudly protested her speech outside the building.
“The purpose of a university is to encourage and promote the free exchange of ideas,” University of Calgary provost Alan Harrison told reporters Wednesday. “To do anything other than that is to go against what the university stands for.”
Coulter and her team, including Canadian conservative Ezra Levant, cited “violence” in the crowd at the University of Ottawa and claimed that the police had shut it down.
Ottawa police spokesman Alain Boucher said they saw no violence, arrested no one and had only advised Coulter’s entourage they should find a bigger space to accommodate everyone safely.
Coulter later dismissed the University of Ottawa as “bush league” in an interview with the Washington Times and said in her blog Wednesday that student IQs at the University of Ottawa are zero, and that “Canada” is “Indian” for “land of the bedwetters.”
Earlier in the week, she made headlines when she told a Muslim student at the University of Western Ontario that she should “take a camel” for international travel.
The cancelled talk in Ottawa became a story of freedom of speech denied, and left many in Ottawa uncomfortable with how her visit had shook down.
Calgary Conservative MP Rob Anders said he looked forward to her speaking in his town, where he said she had some fans from his riding.
“I certainly hope that Calgary’s more civil to her. I think it’s important that somebody with her calibre and background be allowed to speak,” said Anders.
“I think it’s a travesty of freedom of speech for her not to be able to carry on a civil conversation.”
The university’s provost, Francois Houle, sent Coulter an email earlier in the week reminding her of Canada’s hate laws.
In her blog, Coulter accused Houle (whom she referred to as “little Francois A-Houle”) of failing to attend her talk because “Tuesday is his bikini wax night.”
The University of Ottawa’s president, former Liberal cabinet minister Allan Rock, issued a statement Wednesday underlining that the institution would remain “a safe and democratic environment for the expression of views.
“Freedom of expression is a core value that the University of Ottawa has always promoted,” Rock wrote. “We have a long history of hosting contentious and controversial speakers on our campus. Last night was no exception, as people gathered here to listen to and debate Ann Coulter’s opinions.”
Conservative strategist Tim Powers, who has been teaching at the university for the past decade, said he has always regarded the institution as a free marketplace of ideas and views.
But he thought the way it handled the Coulter appearance was unfortunate.
“People look at her with some passing curiosity, but that’s about it,” Powers said. “She’s not seen as a serious commentator or a serious thought leader. For that reason, the University of Ottawa . . . should have let the clown perform, and she would have shown herself to be a joke.”
Ottawa New Democrat MP Paul Dewar said he had no problem with Coulter’s right to speak, but was amused by how she portrayed the situation.
“There was an offer for her to speak there, she could have attended, it was her call, and at the end she felt it wasn’t a welcoming environment to speak,” said Dewar.
In the United States, editorial reaction to Coulter’s cancelled event was mixed.
Vanity Fair writer Andrew Cohen saluted Canadians for their distaste for Coulter’s rhetoric.
“That this is Coulter’s eternal shtick — cruel, offensive, bullying, but kidding, just kidding! —generated little sympathy or understanding from our friendly neighbours to the north.”
But Esquire and others criticized Canada for feeding Coulter’s quest for attention and defended her right to speak.
“Way to go, Canada! You’ve achieved the nearly impossible, and made Ann Coulter a nearly sympathetic figure. And you’ve got me defending the tiresome freak.”