I made a post about the Ryerson incident in another thread. I am also going to post it here:
Speaking events are being shut down by leftist radicals threatening violence and labeling anyone who does not fall in line with their ideology as Nazis and Fascists. Canada is becoming a very difficult place to openly admit you have conservative views.
Recently, a free speech panel discussion was canceled because a leftist group feels that the speakers are fascists and they have decided they will take it upon themselves to shut down the discussion if the university does not. Of course, the university listened to the leftist radicals.
There is a very disturbing precedent being set where a radical leftist group merely has to yell Nazi or Fascist and then threaten violence and that justifies shutting down free speech.
Facing pushback, Ryerson University cancels panel discussion on campus free speech
Ryerson University has canceled a panel discussion called “The Stifling of Free Speech on University Campuses” following pushback from
activists who said the event was giving a platform to fascists.
The event, which was set for August 22, was slated to feature controversial speakers including University of Toronto psychology professor
Jordan Peterson, who rose to prominence after refusing to use students’ preferred pronouns, and journalist Faith Goldy, who works for the far-right Rebel Media. Behavioural scientist Gad Saad and psychologist Oren Amitay rounded out the roster.
“After a thorough security review, the University has concluded that Ryerson is not equipped to provide the necessary level of public safety for the event to go forward,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “In light of recent events, Ryerson University is prioritizing campus safety.”
Christeen Elizabeth, one of the organizers of a planned rally against the event — “No Fascists in Our City!”, the Facebook event page for which originally featured a header photo of a crossed-out swastika, before the photo was changed Wednesday — said it was important to speak out against
what she sees as violence against oppressed groups.
[Dr. Jordan] Peterson said the cancellation is “an indication of the crazy absurdity that characterizes the current political situation. There’s an element of surrealism to it.”
But he has increased sympathy for a safety argument, he said, given the “inflamed rhetoric” the protesters used.
“I think there’s no excuse for what they’re doing, with the Nazi symbolism. It’s very, very dangerous to engage in that kind of casual vilification,” he said.
“We’re drifting into a scenario of increased polarization, and it’s not an advisable time to contribute to that, wittingly or unwittingly,” Peterson said.
Peterson repeatedly echoed U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that ideologues on both sides were responsible for violence.
“It’s a time to bloody well hope that everyone takes a deep breath and walks backwards a little bit from the edge of the abyss,” he said, but noted that now was not the time to discuss the “sins of the radical left.”
