UBC prevented an event from happening on campus Nov. 17 where Lauren Southern was scheduled to speak. She believes there were no mass graves at Canadian residential schools.
Image Credit: YOUTUBE
November 13, 2021 - 4:25 PM
A UBC student event was cancelled this week after a guest who promoted the idea that residential school gravesites are a hoax was scheduled to speak.
Lauren Southern who created a YouTube video titled The Canadian Mass Grave Hoax, was supposed to speak at an event Nov. 17, hosted by the UBC Students for Freedom of Expression. Southern is a former Rebel Media employee who used to make videos with Faith Goldy, the white nationalist who ran a campaign for Mayor of Toronto in 2018.
Much of the 32-minute is Southern recording herself reacting as she realizes she’s being ignored by people who don’t want to respond to her. She concludes the video by arguing the church is the real victim in discovery of mass graves earlier in 2021.
Also scheduled to speak at the event were writers Kevin Annett and George Brown and a residential school survivor, former RCMP officer and military veteran.
In a statement issued Nov. 12, UBC said it supports academic freedom, but decided the event on Nov. 17 would have an adverse affect and should not proceed. The release emphasized that the event was not sponsored by the school itself.
The student group responded to that statement, saying the organization would have liked to have been consulted first.
“Given that none of the speakers, or any of the attendees had threatened or condoned violence or recklessness, we can only guess that UBC was anticipating the precipitation of such behaviour by those who sought to have the event cancelled,” the SFFOF said in a release. It calls the university hypocritical for allowing other controversial figures to speak on campus in the past.
READ MORE: Elections Canada probed how many Canadians have a 'conspiracy mindset'
The writer who was scheduled to speak, Annett, questioned why the SFFOF thought it was a good idea to include Southern.
“One thing I am curious about is why was Lauren invited in the first place, considering her paucity of experience and knowledge on the issue and the many other more competent and sensitive people who could speak to genocide in Canada,” Annett said in an email to the organization after realizing the event was stirring up controversy.
The SFFOF say in their release they were considering a compromise, but before anything could be proposed, the school emailed them to explain why the event should not happen.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dan Walton or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2021