About 100 people protested on the lawn at Queen’s Park against a controversial “pick-up artist” who was scheduled to speak in Toronto at an undisclosed location on Saturday.
MPP Cheri DiNovo organized the rally outside Queen’s Park today saying this is a “personal issue” for her.
“Hate speech is not the same thing as free speech and what we are protesting against is hate speech,” DiNovo said. “It is a crime to advocate sexual assault and it is a crime to perform sexual assault.”
Earlier this week, Toronto Mayor John Tory and City Coun. Norm Kelly called for the cancellation of his Toronto lecture.
Tory tweeted that the blogger’s views don't reflect the values of the city, calling his statements about women "demeaning and unacceptable."
Valizadeh is the author of several books, and runs the website ReturnofKings.com which is "meant for a small but vocal collection of men in America today who believe men should be more masculine and women should be feminine."
Valizadeh’s Toronto appearance would be the last of a six-city tour, that has included Berlin, London, Washington, New York and Montreal. Each stop includes a 40-minute speech that gives "practical solutions for helping (men) improve their intimate relationships with women and increase their overall enjoyment with life," followed by a question-and-answer session, as well as a chance to meet Valizadeh.
Earlier this month, Valizadeh was in Montreal, where beer was reportedly thrown in his face by angry customers.
On Monday afternoon, he posted on Twitter that he was "hardened from battle" in the Quebec city.
"We come to Toronto as righteous victors. We won't stand down, we won't apologize," he wrote.
