Coulter's Speech at Canadian College Canceled

Paper Trail rarely ventures north of the border, but this story is too juicy to pass up. Controversial conservative commentator Ann Coulter is in the news (again) after her speech at a Canadian university was canceled because of security concerns.

Facing disruptions from students and local protesters, Coulter's bodyguard and the on-site security staff agreed that her speech couldn't go on as planned Tuesday at the University of Ottawa, the Fulcrum reports. Ezra Levant, a Canadian conservative who was slated to speak before Coulter and introduce her to the crowd, called the cancellation embarrassing.

"It is an embarrassing day for the University of Ottawa and their student body that [they] couldn't debate Ann Coulter and chose to silence her," Levant says. "Never in my whole life [have] I thought I would have to tell people how to get out of a university safely."

The speech was part of a series of talks Coulter planned to give in Canada. Levant said students and local residents made it impossible for the event to proceed. A fire alarm was pulled. Doors entering the auditorium were crowded. Protesters countered that police crowded the doors, not the protesters. Either way, it all amounted to a circus, which has sort of become the norm for any Coulter speaking event.

"We support a positive space on campus. We don't tolerate hate speech," one student, who helped organize the protest, tells the Fulcrum.

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