Controversial subject leads to cancellation of U of R lecture series

It’s been a frustrating week for Emily Eaton.

The University of Regina Geography Professor was supposed to give a presentation in Victoria Park next Tuesday as part of an agreement between the U of R’s Faculty of Arts Department and the Regina Downtown Business Improvement District (RDBID).

Her dream of raising awareness of the international movement calling for boycotts and sanctions against Israel were dashed this week – RDBID cancelled her presentation, saying the subject was “potentially volatile and perhaps harmful to some members of the public”.

“It seems the City of Regina is censoring what kind of stuff it wants its public to hear,” Eaton said.

City Councillor Michael Fougere sits on the Regina Downtown board. He told Global News some members of the public raised concerns about the controversial nature of one of the presentations, saying they felt uncomfortable. That prompted the cancellation.

Eaton still thinks the subject is one that should be discussed in Regina.

“All sorts of people in the international community are acting in all countries across the world,” she said. “There’s a strong Palestinian solidarity movement, so I don’t think it’s controversial.”

Barb Pollock, VP of External Affairs for the University of Regina wonders why this happened now.

“We have presented controversial subjects in the past and not had extenuating problems,” she said. “We do appreciate they have a stance, but we have a stance as well.”

For RDBID, the decision was one they felt was necessary.

“It’s not our intention to censor the speech or thought of anyone in our community,” RDBID said in a release. “We do, however, have a responsibility to respect concerns that are brought to our attention.”

Eaton, however, feels like her voice was taken away. She says the ordeal feels like an effort to hide an important subject from the public.

“The intent of the whole event was to really reach out to the public and to have these types of conversations in public arenas,” Eaton explained.

The Faculty of Arts pulled the remaining ten presentations from Victoria Park. They will be presented somewhere else, likely on University property.