(on behalf of Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association)
by The Niagara Independent
Surprise Attack! Revolution carried through by small conscious minorities
Kabul in the Republican Revolution of 1973
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Budget committee green-lights Niagara police budget increase (Niagara Independent)
https://niagaraindependent.ca/budget-committee-green-lights-niagara-police-budget-increase/
Budget committee green-lights Niagara police budget increase
The 5.7 per cent bump from 2022 will allow an already-stretched service to hire and retain members, invest in mental health support, and contend with rising costs of operational necessities like fuel. Photo credit: Twitter/Bryan MacCulloch
Despite continued calls to “defund the police” across North America, and the recent efforts of local activist groups, Niagara Regional Police (NRP) will have an increased operating budget this upcoming fiscal year.
At a marathon meeting last Thursday night, budget review committee members approved in principle a $177.9 operating budget for 2023, a 5.7 per cent increase from last year.
The increased funds, according to NRP chief Bryan MacCulloch, are necessary to hire more officers and civilian specialists, invest in member wellness, and keep up with wage increases and rising fuel costs.
“When we bring forward a budget request, we are not playing a negotiating game, we are not over-asking so we end up getting something smaller,” MacCulloch told councillors Thursday. “What we ask for is what we need to adequately and effectively police our community.”
One bone of contention at the committee meeting was whether the NRP should have to use any surplus carry-over from 2022 to offset the $177.9 million price-tag – a proposition floated by St. Catharines regional councillor Brian Heit, seconded by Laura Ip.
Whether the NRP had a surplus last year, and how much, will be known in March.
MacCulloch, supported by Mayor of Port Colborne and former NRP board chair Bill Steele, among other councillors, argued that any surplus funds should go toward building back the service’s contingency reserves.
The reserves were depleted the term before last. The NRP reportedly has only $900,000 in the bank for any unforeseen financial pressures.
“You can’t subsidize operating (budgets) – operating is continuous,” said Mayor Steele. “You can always put off buying a police car, or a back-hoe if you’re in the public works sector of Niagara Region, to off-set your everyday budget. It just doesn’t make sense.”
The amendment to require any surplus be used to lower the 2023 operating budget was ultimately defeated, with the original recommendation from the NRP – a 5.7 per cent increase without surplus-related strings attached – carried.
In a letter posted to social media and circulated to councillors prior to last Thursday’s meeting, Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association executive committee member Saleh Waziruddin called for regional councillors to ask the NRP to lower its operating budget.
According to Waziruddin, a long-time member of and former political candidate for the Communist Party of Canada, shifting welfare checks and mental health calls to a civilian service would result in a “significant reduction of the operating budget”.
“There is also a moral and equity reason for shifting these service calls away from police, not just a financial one,” said Waziruddin. “Welfare checks and mental health calls do not all require an armed response and can escalate dangerously and unnecessarily with the police, who are not the inappropriate service (sic) for these calls.”
The next budget committee is scheduled for February 9.
Niagara Regional Council is set to approve of the entire 2023 budget package at the end of February.
Monday, January 30, 2023
Niagara group calls for separate mental-health emergency line (Thorold Today)
(To clarify, we don't need to create a 4th service right now, EMS already exists and mental health calls (and funding! not just calls) can be shifted to them which the police chief himself said he's happy to send calls to when no danger to public safety)
Niagara police chief supports idea of a dedicated service to 'respond specifically to persons in crisis,' but until that exists, reducing police budget would be 'irresponsible'
When a Niagara resident is in crisis, there are three help lines available to them: police, fire, and emergency medical services (EMS).
The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association wants to change that — calling for the creation of a fourth civilian-led service that would specialize in mental health and welfare checks that do not necessarily require an emergency response.
“This is one way they could save a lot of money: by moving calls that don’t need to be answered by the police to a service that is cheaper,” says committee member Saleh Waziruddin, in an interview with ThoroldToday. “There are already civilian professionals that are trained to deal with these calls, so why not just give them the resources and that way there is less on the police?"
The association envisions the service as another resource that a 9-1-1 dispatcher could transfer a call to.
“It would be the same line,” Waziruddin says. “If the civilian worker dispatch needs police, they can call police themselves. It doesn’t need to be that the first response is police.”
To implement the service, the anti-racism association wants to see money diverted from the budget of the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS).
Waziruddin points to Edmonton, where a similar service was implemented two years ago.
“This has already been done by other places in Canada,” he says. “There’s an example to follow. We wouldn’t be the first ones to shift money to these civilian services that are specialized in handling these kind of calls.”
According to a 2020 NRPS report, non-urgent mental health and welfare checks made up 8.3 per cent of calls in 2019. Police are often the first to respond to these calls, which can sometimes lead to tragic results.
On Sept. 4, a police officer killed a Black man in Port Colborne after the man threatened a neighbour with a knife and barricaded himself inside his apartment.
“The operation may not have been perfect, but no such undertaking ever is,” reads a report on the incident from the Special Investigations Unit. “It may be, for example, that more ought to have been done in the course of the negotiations to address the mental health issues that appeared to be at play once it was learned that the Complainant had cognitive deficits.”
Waziruddin says that incident illustrates the need for a dedicated mental health service.
“They say the person had cognitive difficulties so you obviously can’t talk to them in a way that you would with someone who didn’t have that problem,” he says. “You need specialized people who know how to talk to them in a crisis. When we have services that are actually specialized and don’t respond with a gun, then we’ll have less people unnecessarily killed.”
To convince others of their idea, the anti-racism association sent a letter to regional councillors ahead of last Thursday’s meeting about the NRPS budget.
Of all the regional councillors present at the meeting, Laura Ip was the only one to mention the letter.
While Chief of Police Bryan MacCulloch agreed there is a need for a specialized service, he said there are logistical challenges involved that need to be overcome first.
“The challenge that any police service or municipality faces is the intersectionality between mental health, criminality and drug addictions, which creates really volatile behaviours that we’re seeing,” he told councillors.
According to MacCulloch, there is often a lack of information provided in 9-1-1 calls.
“The issue is that the information sometimes is not as it appears,” he said. “The information that we may receive may not indicate that there is somebody suffering from a mental health crisis.”
So what about shifting mental health calls to the EMS?
“EMS is already seeing its own challenges with the offload waits at the hospital,” MacCulloch said. “I’m not sure they are necessarily in a position to provide that assistance given their own challenges with paramedics being delayed for significant hours at the hospital offloading patients.”
Waziruddin says MacCulloch's remarks show the need for the association’s idea.
“That medical backlog would be fixed because we’re not just going to shift the calls but we’re also going to shift the money with the calls,” he says. “I was disappointed that councillors didn’t dig deeper into what the police chief said because he answered his own objections.”
In a written statement to ThoroldToday, Chief MacCulloch reiterated his support for the idea of a "fourth option."
“The Niagara Regional Police Service has long advocated for the creation of an enhanced model that has a fourth option to respond specifically to persons in crisis, but until that model is created and implemented, police are the only current option,” he writes. “Without a fourth option in place, it would be irresponsible to reduce the budget until a mechanism to safely respond to these calls for service has been addressed.”
When reached for comment, Thorold Regional Councillor Tim Whalen told ThoroldToday he didn’t read the letter from the anti-racism association because his email wasn’t working.
He also said he does not believe in diverting funds from the NRPS budget.
“To defund the police and that, I don’t agree with it,” he said. “We need to have a specialized committee set up. It can’t just happen overnight. It has to be developed and processed properly.”
Other regional councillors seem to agree. At the end of Thursday's meeting, councillors approved in principal the police service's $177.9-million budget.
Waziruddin is disappointed that his association’s letter seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
“We’re not being believed when BIPOC people are telling council that we need changes in the police service — we’re not being listened to,” he says. “When someone is going through a crisis you should talk them down instead of hurting them.”
Friday, January 27, 2023
Shifting mental-health calls away from police easier said than done, says NRP chief (St. Catharines Standard)
Shifting mental-health calls away from police easier said than done, says NRP chief
Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch acknowledges anti-racism association’s call to defund parts of the police budget and have that money transferred to another entity — but “that entity doesn’t exist.”
/https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/content/dam/niagaradailies/uploads/Sawchuk_Bill.JPG)
Niagara Regional Police Chief Bryan MacCulloch would like a solution to the growing mental-health crises that doesn’t involve police, but there isn’t an agency currently that could handle the calls.
MacCulloch was reacting to a letter from the Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association to Niagara Region councillors asking them to press the regional police to reduce its budget by shifting welfare checks and mental-health calls that do not require an armed response to a civilian service.
“When somebody calls 911 regarding a personal crisis, there are three options — police, fire or ambulance,” MacCulloch said as he took questions while presenting the service’s 2023 operating budget of $177.9 million to regional council Thursday.
“Based on the caller’s information, the call is triaged and sent to the appropriate agency. I know there have been calls for defunding the police and having that money go to another entity, but that entity doesn’t exist.”
The anti-racism association sent the letter to councillors before police presented their operating budget. The civilian-dispatched service would specialize in handling specific calls for assistance where an armed response wasn’t necessary, said Saleh Waziruddin, an executive committee member of the anti-racism association.
“It would be irresponsible, not just financially but also morally and socially, to not ask for a different operating budget proposal that shifts welfare check and mental health calls to a civilian service specialized in those issues,” Waziruddin said.
MacCulloch said there is no fourth entity to respond to people in crisis. Over the last five years, the regional police has seen an increase of 238 per cent involving persons in crisis.
“The challenge that any police service or any municipality faces is that the intersectionality between mental health, criminality and drug addictions creates the volatile behaviours we’re seeing,” MacCulloch said. “I’m not sure a fourth entity would necessarily be prepared to respond to those calls where there is a possibility of violence.”
MacCulloch said if there was a way to triage the calls so the ones where there is no risk to public safety are indentified, Niagara EMS could provide a medical response to a medical crisis.
“The problem is the information we receive may not necessarily indicate that somebody is suffering from a mental health crisis,” MacCulloch said. “It may be somebody armed with a knife or the type of call where it may not be as readily apparent that it is a mental health call.”
MacCulloch said a subcommittee of different organizations examining how first responders respond to persons in crisis is at work.
“They are working at being able to isolate those calls so they can be downloaded to EMS,” the chief said. “But I don’t have to tell this council, Niagara EMS is experiencing its own challenges with off-load waits at the hospital. I’m not sure they are necessarily in a position to provide that assistance.”
Bill Sawchuk is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: william.sawchuk@niagaradailies.com
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Niagara anti-racism association calls for reduction in police budget (St. Catharines Standard)
https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news/council/2023/01/26/niagara-anti-racism-association-calls-for-reduction-in-police-budget.html
Niagara anti-racism association calls for reduction in police budget
Organization wants welfare-check calls directed away from police
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association is calling on regional councillors to press Niagara Regional Police Service to reduce its budget by shifting welfare checks and mental-health calls that do not require an armed response to a civilian service.
The anti-racism association sent the letter to councillors in advance of their budget committee meeting Thursday, where the NRP will present its 2023 operating budget of $168.3 million.
The civilian-dispatched service would specialize in handling specific calls for assistance.
“It would not only be fiscally responsible but also morally and socially responsible to shift calls that don’t need an armed response to a civilian service specialized in those issues,” said Saleh Waziruddin, an executive committee member of the anti-racism association, in a news release.
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association was founded in the summer of 2018 and campaigns for police reforms, addresses issues such as employment equity, hosts guest speakers and supports individuals under racist attacks.
The type of calls referenced in the letter comprises 8.3 per cent of the NRP’s total call volume, according to the service’s 2020 annual report, the letter said.
“This would be a significant reduction of the operating budget by shifting funding to an alternative service that not only would cost less but would not involve police in social problems, something they themselves say is not their purpose,” Waziruddin said.
Waziruddin said not all welfare checks and mental health calls require an armed response, and incidents can escalate dangerously and unnecessarily with police involvement.
The letter referenced a Special Investigations Unit reporton the police shooting death of a 52-year-old Black man in Port Colborne on Sept. 4, 2022.
The SIU report cleared the police officers involved of misconduct, saying the police response “may not have been perfect, but no such undertaking ever is.”
“We need to do better than ‘may not have been perfect,’ especially where our lives are at stake,” Waziruddin said
“It would be irresponsible, not just financially but also morally and socially, to not ask for a different operating budget proposal that shifts welfare check and mental health calls to a civilian service specialized in those issues.”
Bill Sawchuk is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: william.sawchuk@niagaradailies.com
NIAGARA ANTI-RACISM ASSOCIATION WANTS A CIVILIAN GROUP TO RESPOND TO SOME POLICE CALLS (CKTB 610AM)
https://www.iheartradio.ca/610cktb/1.19148371
NIAGARA ANTI-RACISM ASSOCIATION WANTS A CIVILIAN GROUP TO RESPOND TO SOME POLICE CALLS
The Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association wants a civilian group to respond to some calls, rather than armed police officers.
The group has sent a letter to Niagara Region Councillors in advance of their Budget Review Committee Meeting of the Whole.
They are asking Niagara Regional Police to reduce their operating budget by shifting funding to a civilian service for welfare check, mental health and other non-urgent calls.
Saleh Waziruddin with the association says it would not only be fiscally responsible, but also morally and socially responsible to shift calls which don't need an armed response to a civilian service specialized in those issues.
Waziruddin will join CKTB's Tim Denis on Niagara in the Morning Friday at 7:50 a.m. with more details.
Here is the letter sent to councillors:
Dear Niagara Region Councillors,
At your January 12, 2023 Budget Review meeting many of you made a point about being fiscally responsible, to the extent of changing the addition of three staff needed to take
additional customer service calls from permanent to temporary positions, even though it did
not change the cost.It would then be fiscally irresponsible of you to not ask the Niagara Regional Police to come back with a lower operating budget where calls that do not require a police response were shifted to a civilian (non-police) dispatched service. The Niagara Regional Police Service 2020 annual report (page 10) list of the top 2019 service calls, welfare checks (#3), mental health act (#12), and welfare checks “non urgent” (#16), made up 11,024 or 8.4% of all calls (from a total of 131,834, slightly different than in the Operating Budget presentation). This would be a significant reduction of the operating budget by shifting funding to an alternative service that not only would cost less but would not involve police in social problems, something they themselves say is not their purpose.
There is also a moral and equity reason for shifting these service calls away from police, not just a financial one. Welfare checks and mental health calls do not all require an armed response and can escalate dangerously and unnecessarily with the police, who are not the inappropriate service for these calls. We saw this last year with the police killing of a Black man in Port Colborne where the Special Investigations Unit report (Case # 22-OFD-229) said the police response “may not have been perfect” and that “more ought to have been done” to “address the mental health issues.”
We need to do better than “may not have been perfect,” especially where our lives are at stake. It would be irresponsible, not just financially but also morally and socially, to not ask for a different operating budget proposal that shifts welfare check and mental health calls to a civilian service specialized in those issues.
Thank you,
Saleh Waziruddin
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (executive committee member)"
Open letter to Niagara Region Councillors Re 2023 Operating Budget for Niagara Regional Police Service (from Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association)
Dear Niagara Region Councillors,
At your January 12, 2023 Budget Review meeting many of you made a point about being fiscally responsible, to the extent of changing the addition of three staff needed to take additional customer service calls from permanent to temporary positions, even though it did not change the cost.
It would then be fiscally irresponsible of you to not ask the Niagara Regional Police to come back with a lower operating budget where calls that do not require a police response were shifted to a civilian (non-police) dispatched service. The Niagara Regional Police Service 2020 annual report (page 10) list of the top 2019 service calls, welfare checks (#3), mental health act (#12), and welfare checks “non urgent” (#16), made up 11,024 or 8.4% of all calls (from a total of 131,834, slightly different than in the Operating Budget presentation). This would be a significant reduction of the operating budget by shifting funding to an alternative service that not only would cost less but would not involve police in social problems, something they themselves say is not their purpose.
There is also a moral and equity reason for shifting these service calls away from police, not just a financial one. Welfare checks and mental health calls do not all require an armed response and can escalate dangerously and unnecessarily with the police, who are not the inappropriate (sic) service for these calls. We saw this last year with the police killing of a Black man in Port Colborne where the Special Investigations Unit report (Case # 22-OFD-229) said the police response “may not have been perfect” and that “more ought to have been done” to “address the mental health issues.”
We need to do better than “may not have been perfect,” especially where our lives are at stake. It would be irresponsible, not just financially but also morally and socially, to not ask for a different operating budget proposal that shifts welfare check and mental health calls to a civilian service specialized in those issues.
Thank you,
Saleh Waziruddin
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association (executive committee member)
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Jordan Peterson's Ottawa event directly opposes NHL's diversity and inclusion efforts, experts say (Yahoo News)
Jordan Peterson's Ottawa event directly opposes NHL's diversity and inclusion efforts, experts say
Jordan Peterson has a show scheduled in Ottawa on Jan. 30 at Canadian Tire Centre.
Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre hosts many events, touting itself as a venue where “The greatest games, the biggest shows, the best times in the nation’s capital happen.” Most notably, the arena serves as home to the National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators, with both the team and arena owned by the estate of the late Eugene Melnyk and run by branches of Capital Sports.
While the Senators are the venue’s top billing, a more controversial tenant is set to play to the crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre this month. That person is Jordan B. Peterson.
Peterson’s appearance at an arena not only housing an NHL franchise, but operated by a group with representation at the NHL’s board of governors table, has raised concerns among those working to build diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in hockey.
As the league’s “Hockey is for Everyone” campaign states, the NHL believes “all hockey programs — from professionals to youth organizations — should provide a safe, positive and inclusive environment for players and families regardless of race, colour, religion, national origin, gender identity or expression, disability, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.”
When Peterson enters the Canadian Tire Centre on Jan. 30, that commitment to a safe and inclusive environment for all, according to critics, will be challenged.
Peterson, a former professor, and now author, was in vocal opposition to Bill C-16, which added gender identity and expression as protected grounds in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Peterson labelled gender-affirming care “a viciously harmful fad” and “Nazi medical experiment-level wrong,” which the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called “hate-driven anti-trans rhetoric.” GLAAD also stated the videos Peterson creates “perpetuate hateful and false narratives at the expense of trans people everywhere.” Peterson’s anti-trans actions also saw him banned from Twitter last summer “after violating Twitter’s hateful conduct policy by posting tweets targeting transgender actor Elliot Page.”
In November, Peterson directly confronted the NHL on Twitter after he was reinstated by the social media platform’s new owner, Elon Musk. After the NHL posted a tweet celebrating Team Trans, an all transgender hockey organization, the post received hundreds of anti-trans replies. The NHL defended the transgender community, tweeting “Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary identity is real.” Peterson quoted the NHL’s statement, saying “Not hockey too…. Canada is doomed.” Peterson also misgendered participants of the Team Trans event and spread disinformation, which Team Trans later clarified directly to Yahoo.
Peterson’s direct opposition to the NHL's inclusion efforts related to gender and sexuality, according to experts, is a contradiction to hockey’s ongoing efforts to combat homophobia and transphobia in sport and society.
“I understand there is currently a political and cultural appetite for his philosophies, including in the hockey community,” said Dr. Cheryl MacDonald, a leading hockey scholar focusing on social issues in sport, about Peterson’s event at Canadian Tire Centre. “At the same time, if NHL teams are truly committed to sustainable diversity, equity and inclusion work, it seems to me that to give a platform to someone with such polarizing views of human rights and responsibilities as Jordan Peterson could be understood by many marginalized hockey fans as being in direct opposition to those DEI goals.”
Peterson himself has stated his distaste for terms like “equity” and “diversity.” In a blog post titled "Equity: When the Left Goes Too Far," Peterson claimed that of diversity, equity and inclusion, “equity is the most egregious, self-righteous, historically-ignorant and dangerous.” In a separate post, Peterson wrote that diversity "masquerades as something positive,” and what the term truly means is “let’s aim for fewer white men in positions of authority.”
Following the death of Melynk in May 2022, The Athletic published an expose on the late Senators owner, including his opposition to LGBTQ+ inclusive marketing efforts by the franchise.
“Melnyk was incensed at a marketing campaign with the slogan 'Love is Love' that included still images of same-sex couples embracing and kissing that had been used to promote an upcoming Senators game for the NHL’s 'Hockey is for Everyone' night,” The Athletic wrote. “The campaign was designed to celebrate diversity and inclusion and to connect with members of the Ottawa community previously left out of the organization’s outreach efforts.”
While most NHL teams host Pride Nights in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, the Senators have remained one of the few organizations to not hold a specific special event for Pride.
According to The Athletic, Melynk, who purchased the Senators in 2003, was “screaming” at employees inquiring who was “responsible for this fucking gay campaign?” and making statements such as “We are the laughing stock of the NHL right now!” and “They think we are so desperate that we have to advertise to gays now.”
The Senators, however, have made strides over the last year, participating in Ottawa Pride events and engaging with organizations like Ottawa Pride Hockey, an LGBTQ+ hockey club that is worried about the harm Peterson’s appearance will have to LGBTQ+ people in Ottawa.
“Ottawa Pride Hockey has worked to create a safer space for queer, trans and nonbinary hockey players of all skill levels to play the sport we love,” the organization said in a statement to Yahoo. “As a society, we are at a critical point in history in examining some of the more toxic elements of hockey culture, and have the exciting opportunity to leave things better than we found them, so more people can enjoy the sport we base our lives around. That's why it is a step in the wrong direction for the Canadian Tire Centre to host Jordan Peterson, a known anti-feminist and transphobe, in the same building where the Ottawa Senators are working on diversifying hockey and making it more accessible for everyone.
“Giving this harmful individual a platform in this specific venue is harmful and alienating, particularly for hockey fans who are queer, trans and nonbinary,” their statement continued. “We have been really pleased to see the Ottawa Senators building up their connection with groups like ours in the community, and feel these efforts are genuine. Hosting Jordan Peterson at the Canadian Tire Centre feels like a step in the wrong direction, once again showing that hockey spaces will tolerate hatred and provide a platform to those who, at best, believe that people like us are mentally ill and, at worst, want us dead. We hope to see the event cancelled, to show that hate has no place in hockey, or in our communities.”
These concerns were echoed by several Ottawa-based organizations, including the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women, Horizon Ottawa, Kind Space, Wisdom 2 Action, and the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity, who penned a joint letter provided to Yahoo, opposing Peterson’s event in hopes organizers and the City will act to protect vulnerable groups in Ottawa.
“We are writing today to express our deep shock and disappointment with the choice of the Canadian Tire Centre to host Jordan Peterson for a forthcoming show,” the letter reads.
The letter also references Peterson’s support for last year’s Freedom Convoy, which caused “equity-deserving communities” within the region to experience “the traumatic events of the occupation of our city by the far-right,” including “hundreds of incidents of harassment.”
According to another local organization, Interval House of Ottawa, which “supports survivors of violence in the Ottawa community,” it is feared that providing Peterson a platform to speak at the Canadian Tire Centre will directly contribute to an increase in gender-based violence in the community.
“With the increase in anti-trans hate and femicide in our community, it is imperative that the issue of gender-based violence be addressed with urgency,” Interval House of Ottawa’s executive director, Keri Lewis told Yahoo.
“Ending gender-based violence is the responsibility of our entire community, including individual members, all levels of government, community-based organizations, and businesses. Providing a platform for someone like Peterson – someone that promotes racism, transphobia and misogyny – only contributes to the conditions that lead to gender-based violence.
“IHO stands against the message of hate brought by Peterson and we are here to support those who will surely be impacted by an uptick in harassment and violence encouraged by his visit,” said Lewis.
Peterson’s beliefs related to misogyny and violence have sparked criticism in the past. In 2018, Peterson defended a murderous spree in Toronto, which left 10 dead, saying the perpetrator was angry at God because "women were rejecting him,” and the solution was “enforced monogamy.” Peterson has claimed “the masculine spirit is under assault” and that feminists have an “unconscious wish for brutal male domination.” He’s also stated women would be happier if they “allow themselves to be transformed by nature into mothers.” In addition, Peterson has called women who don’t want to be sexually harassed in the workplace “hypocritical” if they wear makeup.
Over the last year, hockey has faced a reckoning with sexual violence, rape culture, and consent, specifically related to the ongoing Hockey Canada scandal. In other circumstances, including a 2018 investigation at Boston University, a “culture of sexual entitlement” among hockey players was admonished, echoing phrases used to describe Peterson’s own ideology. In a 2022 article in The Conversation, scholars discussed the issues of “male privilege and entitlement” related to sexual assault in hockey.
Peterson, who is currently facing disciplinary actions from Ontario’s College of Psychologists, has defended his messages as an expression of “freedom of speech.” As scholars argue, including University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon, whose research focus is on freedom of expression, individuals participating in hate speech often shift the discussion to the defence of free speech to make bigotry acceptable.
“By shifting the focus to the defence of free speech, the speaker, or their sponsor, can defend the speech without directly defending the merits of what is said,” Moon wrote in an article for The Conversation, directly referencing Peterson. “Indeed, for some time now, hate-mongers have found it strategically useful to present themselves as defenders of free speech.”
At times Peterson’s own words have contradicted his defence of free speech, and when the Canadian Tire Centre announced Peterson’s Ottawa event on social media, it inevitably closed replies, limiting feedback and criticism from those opposing Peterson’s event. The NHL also closed comments on its post supporting Team Trans after a plethora of anti-trans replies, many considered hate speech under Twitter’s terms, were posted.
While events generate revenue for facilities like the Canadian Tire Centre and their parent companies, there is precedent for events involving individuals and organizations who promote hate, or risk harm to communities, to be called off or protested.
As the letter penned by the joint coalition of concerned Ottawa organizations stated, they’re aware that Peterson and his followers will likely deem any call for a cancellation of the event “censorship,” however, they assert it is not simply Peterson’s messages they oppose, but more so that “the ideas espoused by Peterson directly jeopardize the safety and well-being of marginalized communities, especially women and transgender people.”
In 2020, there were calls to cancel a tour stop of Franklin Graham to Sheffield Arena in the United Kingdom due to the fact Graham had “repeatedly publicly promoted his homophobic beliefs,” which were called “direct hate speech and incitement to violence against LGBTQ+ communities and individuals, which should not be welcomed in our city or anywhere else.” The event was eventually rescheduled for 2022 after a legal dispute was settled.
In 2022, concern was raised in St. Catherines, another Ontario city, about comedian Jeff Dunham’s booking at the Meridian Centre, home to the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. Dunham’s shows have been called racist and harmful.
As Saleh Waziruddin, chair of St. Catherines anti-racism advisory committee said in an interview with CBC, “When there's a hate crime, we can't say we're a compassionate city, racism won't be tolerated here, but when a brazenly, openly, racist, misogynist, homophobic act comes to town, we then say 'Oh well, we have no choice but to lie down and do nothing.'”
Fearing for the safety of marginalized groups in the region, the Ottawa Coalition To End Violence Against Women, Horizon Ottawa, Kind Space, Wisdom 2 Action, and the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity are calling on organizations and stakeholders, including the City of Ottawa and Creative Arts Agency (CAA), the talent agency bringing Peterson to Ottawa, to put an end to this event before harm is created.
“If the CAA, the Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa Senators Group and our City Council truly value the lives and well-being of equity-seeking groups throughout the City of Ottawa they will act quickly and work together to ensure this show does not take place in our city,” the letter said.
Peterson's stop in Ottawa is the only one in an arena owned and operated by the ownership of an NHL franchise, but he’s also booked to appear at Amalie Arena and FLA Live Arena, homes of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, on March 8 and 9 respectively, and already appeared at the Anaheim Ducks’ Honda Center in November of 2022.
Yahoo reached out to the Senators, Canadian Tire, the NHL and Peterson for comment. No requests for comment were returned.
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