London rally against HRCs draws 600

I was nervous when I heard that tonight's panel discussion about Canada's human rights commissions was going to be held in what was once an IMAX theatre in London, Ontario. IMAX theatres are huge -- this one holds 600 people. It's enormously difficult to get 600 people out to a political event, especially when the subject matter is as abstract as freedom of speech, and the dull, continuous threat posed to it by little-known quasi-judicial tribunals. I mean, how many people in London -- population 450,000 -- would spend a weekday evening doing that?

Well, the answer is 600 people, that's who. The room was full. I don't know how to zoom out using my BlackBerry camera, so unless I snapped a series, I couldn't capture the whole room. Here are the two shots I grabbed (as you can see, the room was dark except for the bright lights shining on the stage).

One of the organizers said the head count was 580. Rory Leishman, the London Free Press columnist, said it was the largest political gathering ever held in London outside of an election campaign. (Ironically, no reporter from the LFP deigned to cover the event, even though one of their own columnists, Salim Mansur, was on the panel with Kathy Shaidle and me.)

I won't comment at great length now, because it's late and I've got to get to bed -- I'm off to Toronto first thing in the morning, for a book signing at the Indigo store in the Royal Bank Plaza, at 200 Bay Street. That goes from 12:30 p.m. till 1:30 p.m. -- please stop by if you can.

There were several people videotaping the panel, so I expect the event will be uploaded to YouTube soon -- I'll be sure to post those videos.

Dr. Chris Essex, the famous climate scientist, was the moderator. Kathy Shaidle of Five Feet of Fury went first. I like her blog a lot, but I found her speaking style even more compelling -- a touch more gentle, the humour a touch more subtle, and jam-packed full of facts. I knew she was a good writer, but I didn't know that she was a great speaker. I had high expectations, but they were exceeded. You can read the transcript of her remarks here.

Salim Mansur went next. He's wonderful -- a true classical liberal, and a scholar. And he weaved in personal stories, such as what life was like back in Pakistan and Bangladesh when he was young, and radical Islamists went on a rampage. I was truly touched by his kind words about my fight with the HRCs.

I spoke last, and skipped my standard remarks, since so many of the points were covered by Kathy and Salim, and so many people in the audience seemed to have heard some of my anecdotes before, either on a YouTube of my appearance on the Michael Coren Show or elsewhere. So I riffed on the insanity of thought crimes and "emotion crimes", which is actually what section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is: a law forbidding certain human emotions. No wonder it has a 100% conviction rate.

The Q&A session was strong, and I signed books for about a total of an hour before and after the event.

I'll post the videos when they're on the Internet, but for now let me extend my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to the organizers of this banner event: the Forest City Institute and the Canadian Coalition for Democracies, and Jacob, Alan and Mary Lou. What a great night!

P.S. Thanks to so many friends who drove in from as far away as Michigan, Toronto and Montreal!

P.P.S. I was surprised and delighted, at a reception before the panel, to receive a limited edition print of Kurt Westergaard's cartoon -- the most famous of the 12 original Danish cartoons -- personally autographed by Westergaard himself. It was a gift from Bjorn Larsen of the International Free Press society.