Protesters disrupt lecture by uOttawa ‘anti-feminist’
Masked demonstrators pull fire alarm, cause building to be evacuated
A free speech advocacy group says it will reschedule a lecture by a self-described “contrarian, antifeminist, defender of free speech and the right to dissent” whose talk at the Ottawa Public Library was disrupted by protesters on Saturday.
A group of about 20 demonstrators showed up for the planned lecture by University of Ottawa English professor Janice Fiamengo, whose speech was titled: “Is the university about the pursuit of truth or the protection of approved ideologies?”
The talk was organized by Elijah Bedassie, a second-year philosophy and political science major and leader of a group called uOttawa Students for Free Speech.
The protesters, many dressed in black and wearing face coverings, tried to keep Fiamengo from entering the library. When she did get inside, someone pulled the fire alarm, causing the building to be evacuated and the lecture to be cancelled.
Fiamengo called the disruption “outrageous.”
“I can’t believe that it had been a different group giving that talk — if it had been a feminist group and a bunch of men had arrived and intimidated and bullied the women who were trying to get in — I can’t believe the police would have stood by and let it go on for even five minutes,” she said in an interview Tuesday.
Bedassie said he was dismayed by the protest.
“My main concern is that it normalizes violence in response to people they don’t agree with,” Bedassie said.
Bedassie booked the talk at the library because he said his group has had problems holding lectures on campus and even being recognized as a club by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO).
“I impose a pretty strict code of ethics on my group. We’re not inflammatory right wing, left wing. We’re not troublemakers,” he said.
He chose Fiamengo as the group’s first speaker because “she’s the only professor I hear who calls herself a free speech advocate.”
Bedassie said he saw a group known as Ottawa Against Fascism had issued a “call to action” on its Facebook page to protest Fiamengo’s talk. His group paid to have additional security on hand at the library as a precaution.
“What we really want to do is open dialogue between people and honestly just try to protect speech. We’ve had problems with them (SFUO) trying to ban clubs, Jewish clubs, pro-life clubs … they’re trying to constrict the debate and limit who can talk about what.”
Fiamengo has been an outspoken critic of modern feminism and the #MeToo movement and accused universities of silencing debate on sensitive issues.
“They’re not interested in protecting groups that are unpopular. It’s next to impossible to have a pro-life discussion, a men’s rights discussion, a discussion of Shariah law and its effects in Canada or other places. There’s a whole range of topics where it’s only possible to have one, progressive view,” she said.
Fiamengo has criticized women such as the accuser of former U.S. senator Al Franken. “It is astonishing that they should be allowed to take up so much public space and attention,” Fiamengo says in a lecture posted on YouTube.
Ottawa Against Fascism accused her of being “anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant” and said “she has no shame about using her platform to whip up hatred against marginalized communities.”
Attempts to reach the group were unsuccessful.
Videos posted online from Saturday’s event show a number of confrontations, including one protester exchanging punches with someone inside the library lobby. In another, masked protesters hold a banner with the “anarchy” symbol while chanting “No debate. No platform for hate.” Another video shows two Ottawa police officers handcuffing a protester as the fire alarm sounds in the background.
“Free speech is scary to weakminded bullies, who pulled a fire alarm at the library, forcing all the patrons, many low-income and seniors, to vacate,” Fiamengo wrote on her Facebook page, where she shared a video of the confrontation.
If it had been a feminist group and a bunch of men had arrived … I can’t believe the police would have stood by.
Ottawa police confirmed Tuesday that a 27-year-old man, Inger Wu, was arrested and charged with mischief in connection with Saturday’s protest.
Before approving Fiamengo’s talk, the library spoke to police and its legal counsel, said Monique Désormeaux, deputy CEO of the Ottawa Public Library. Fiamengo’s subject of free speech, “is a topic dear to my heart,” Desormeaux said.
All groups who use the library space must agree to comply with the Canadian Criminal Code and the Ontario Human Rights Code, she said. The library cancelled a planned screening of the film The Killing of Europe last year after realizing that the film’s anti-Muslim rhetoric contravened hate laws. Fiamengo’s talk didn’t raise any red flags, she said.
“We contacted law enforcement to see if this person was on their radar, and they were not. We consulted with our legal counsel and they said, when someone has views that not all society agrees with is one thing, but they did not see anything whatsoever in terms of what the contract said they were going to speak to that was in contravention of the human rights code.
“We don’t look at access to our meeting rooms in terms of who people are, we always look in terms of what the purpose of the event is going to be,” she said.
Bedassie said Monday that he’s looking at a new venue where he could host a lecture by Fiamengo in September. “Most of the people who were there didn’t want their money back. They wanted us to rebook the talk,” he said.