Security tightened, larger venue for Ann Coulter's Calgary appearance
CALGARY — The University of Calgary is beefing up security for Ann Coulter's speech Thursday even as the controversial right-wing pundit says she expects a much safer crowd here.
The uproar Coulter left behind when her Ottawa speech was cancelled Tuesday amid a raucous protest has spurred even greater interest into the previously low-key Calgary event. Late Wednesday organizers moved Coulter's speech to a venue with double the capacity, a U of C official confirmed.
A local anti-racist group is planning to protest outside Coulter's appearance.
But as she arrived in Calgary Wednesday, a breezy Coulter brushed aside security concerns.
"Already I feel safer," she said. "I don't think that much about it (security). My job is to deliver the speech, entertain the crowd, take question and answer. Security's job is to keep me safe."
Asked about accusations of hate-mongering that have dogged her Canadian tour, Coulter replied: "Hate-mongering? Watch out I might fly a plane into a building."
She added it was the decision of the Ottawa police to cancel her University of Ottawa appearance — not her organizers.
But Ottawa police spokesman Alain Boucher said the police did not shut down the event, but said a different venue was needed to hold the crowd.
"We strongly suggested that this venue was not large enough to accommodate all the people that had attended," he said. "We had safety concerns with the sheer number of people that were there . . . with different views on issues."
In a brief statement Wednesday, University of Ottawa president Allan Rock said organizers of the speech themselves decided to cancel the event and informed the university's security services on site of their decision.
Rock defended his institution and said that free expression is a core value of the school that bills itself as Canada's university.
"We have a long history of hosting contentious and controversial speakers on our campus. (Tuesday) night was no exception, as people gathered here to listen to and debate Ann Coulter's opinions," he said.
Coulter has dismissed the Ottawa university as "bush league."
Rock's statement said a crowd of about 1,000 people had peacefully gathered outside the university building where Coulter was to speak.
"I encourage our students' faculty and other members of our community to maintain our university as an open forum for diverse opinions. Ours is a safe and democratic environment for the expression of views, and we will keep it that way," Rock, a former federal minister of justice, said in the statement.
The university indicated it will make no further comment on the matter.
The Calgary event, which will include a discussion on freedom of speech, was initially hosted in a U of C venue with room for 400 people.
The talk has now been moved to the Red and White Club at McMahon Stadium, which more than doubles capacity, said U of C provost Alan Harrison, noting that the university will still be providing security for the event.
There are no plans to cancel the Calgary appearance but security will be "significantly augmented," Harrison said.
The university isn't hosting the event, but is providing the venue. Extra costs will be billed to the organizers, Harrison said.
The purpose of a university is to encourage the exchange of ideas, said Harrison.
"To do anything other than that is to go against, I think, what the university stands for.
"Our concern is to ensure this event goes on smoothly and that she receives the same respect for her opinions as everybody else would expect to receive for theirs," he said.
Harrison said it's not up to the U of C to decide in advance what Coulter might say and whether that is a promotion of hatred.
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