00:00:00.000A conservative activist in Ontario has been banned from Guelph University after what she
00:00:09.860claims was an innocent conversation with some Middle Eastern women about the war in Iran.
00:00:15.420Sarah Dotsert posted a video online claiming the university banned her merely for being
00:00:21.080close to the conversation, not even engaging in it. Sarah Dotsert is a member of Unify Action,
00:00:28.140of pro-family pro-freedom campus group she joins us now welcome sarah hi how are you i'm great thank
00:00:35.820you um maybe you could talk about what happened that led the university of guelph to send you a
00:00:42.780letter saying you were banned for life yeah yes it is it is really honestly the craziest experience
00:00:52.060ever. I wouldn't believe it unless it had happened to me. So the reason that I am banned,
00:00:59.100at least the reason that they're claiming that the trespass notice was even issued at all,
00:01:03.260was not connected to my work at Unify Action. So we went to the University of Guelph one evening,
00:01:10.460it was March 6th, and we go there just to attend a private religious function. So it's just like
00:01:19.460private evening. I wanted to attend outside. Visitors were allowed to attend this function.
00:01:23.960So I went, I had several members of my family with me. And so my father, he was supposed to
00:01:31.120drop us off. And then there were two of my siblings with me. And we arrive early. We're
00:01:37.760in our vehicle. We're eating our supper. It's 7 p.m. at night. And to our side, there is some
00:01:44.680Middle Eastern girls who like they're going back and forth from their vehicle. I'm not sure what0.99
00:01:49.220they were doing at the time. And we're in our vehicle. It's like 20 minutes. We're eating our
00:01:53.180supper and chatting. And then we're about to go in. So we get up, I leave the vehicle
00:01:57.520and I'm walking away and I'm waiting for my siblings to kind of catch up for me. So I'm going
00:02:01.920slow. And behind me, I hear my dad, the side door is open and the Middle Eastern girls are just1.00
00:02:09.040really close to us. So he kind of just leans, leans back. He's still in the driver's seat. He's0.99
00:02:14.580like not moved at all just leans back and says hey what do you guys think of the war in iran
00:02:19.960and i know that could be a very triggering question um but not that you if you don't know
00:02:27.100my dad you would think it was like a wild question to ask but my dad he he loves to talk to anyone he
00:02:32.560will he'll have a conversation with anyone about anything and i know like he's said repeatedly
00:02:38.260since this situation that he was simply trying to gauge their feeling and know what they thought
00:02:43.780about the war because they must have had some feeling about it. And so that was his purpose
00:02:49.480in asking the question. And they immediately, it was taken with hostility. So I stop when I hear
00:02:55.880him ask the question, because I'm still waiting for my siblings to get out of the car. And I sit
00:03:00.980there and I'm just standing there. I'm witnessing this. And so my siblings are standing there
00:03:05.680between the vehicle. They're getting out. And the conversation continues. It's about one minute.
00:03:12.360I don't think it really got too close to two minutes. So it wasn't a long conversation at all.
00:03:17.160And my dad just asked them what they think of like all the people that are being unjustly,
00:03:23.800having their lives ended in Iran and different things like that by the regime and just like
00:03:28.740their thoughts on it. And I believe America, the topic of America was touched and the topic of
00:03:34.060Trump, which is obviously a triggering subject. And that was all touched in that conversation.
00:03:39.620it was very brief. And then the conversation ends with the one girl who was standing by the
00:03:45.300driver's side saying, don't racially stereotype people to my father. So for this whole thing,
00:03:51.480my siblings and I are completely silent. And one of the claims that I understand afterwards that
00:03:56.640they have made is that they were being blocked from exiting their vehicle. Well, if you understand
00:04:04.200that my brother, he was getting out of the vehicle at the time and he was just standing
00:04:09.780there listening to the conversation. So of course he was standing beside the passenger side door
00:04:15.420and they claimed that he was deliberately blocking them in, which is obviously not true. He was
00:04:20.620getting out of the vehicle and he just stopped to listen to the conversation. So there's a lot of
00:04:25.120claims. And, like, I understand them. I understand them for feeling offended and, I guess,
00:04:34.240stereotyped. And I don't hold against them for reporting the conversation at all. I understand
00:04:39.860that they probably took it very, very, like, it was a very racially stereotyping sort of thing,
00:04:46.960that that's what they thought. They didn't understand my father or his reasons for even
00:04:51.720talking to them. He just wanted to know their feelings on it. So what happens is my siblings
00:04:58.020and I, the conversation ends and we walk away, we walk, we attend the function. And my dad drives
00:05:04.740off and he would be doing some errands and then coming back to pick us up. So that's kind of how
00:05:12.900like the whole thing that they're reporting. And we walk into the building and my siblings are with
00:05:18.980me and they actually walk in after us. These girls follow us in and they take a picture of me1.00
00:05:24.280without my consent. And then I see them reporting us to the front desk. It looks like they're like0.99
00:05:31.300obviously flustered and think that there's been some sort of abuse. I assume that's what they
00:05:38.200were saying. And they report us. And that's kind of the last I hear of it until I receive
00:05:43.380the letter in the mail saying that my father and I are banned. And in the whole situation,
00:05:49.140I did absolutely nothing. And I think they understand that I did nothing. And I didn't
00:05:54.240say anything. And I didn't see any cause to interfere in any way. It was simply a conversation
00:06:00.520that my father had. And I understand them for feeling offended. I do. I don't hold it against
00:06:08.200them. And my beef is not with them, actually. My beef was with the university for banning me and
00:06:15.400my father. My father is an alumni of the University of Guelph. So he attended there. And this is his
00:06:22.260university. This is where he spent four years of his life. He got a crop science degree there.
00:06:27.400And what he did with that degree, actually, he went to the war-torn country of Somalia
00:06:34.680and risked his life, nine months of his life, he was in a war zone, basically, feeding the
00:06:41.560impoverished people of Somalia because they had no food. So he spent his nine months of his life
00:06:47.940and the culmination of his degree in Somalia, helping these people and serving them. And now
00:06:54.480they're trying to make the claim that this man is Islamophobic and racist, which to me is outrageous.
00:07:00.680and for my part I have close family friends who are also of the Muslim community and I love these
00:07:06.600people so I I understand that they think that it was racist but I want them to understand that it
00:07:14.800wasn't and that we really we still care about these people we love them and I honestly I want
00:07:22.180the situation to be resolved so my beef is not with these girls at all my beef is with the
00:07:27.380university campus for banning us but not only that banning us without even hearing our side
00:07:34.220because if you just hear one side where there's obviously a misunderstanding then it just all
00:07:40.460sounds horrible um if you were to hear the one side you think that it would be like this horrible
00:07:44.280racist attack which it was not at all yeah so that's the story right i mean it speaks to the
00:07:52.380huge cultural divide between our country and say a country like iran which has no free speech in
00:07:58.140canada we do have free speech and we have a culture of being able to be open and free and
00:08:03.900asking somebody's opinion about something so that's what we take for granted and they don't
00:08:09.740have that over there the problem is they're over here and so maybe they're not used to that sort0.66
00:08:15.020of thing and you know people who come here from those types of countries that do not have free
00:08:20.220speech they need to understand that they're in a place that does have free speech and i'm with you
00:08:25.340on the university issue i mean they need to understand that canada has free speech and that
00:08:30.460that campus supposedly is a space safe space for free expression obviously it's not i mean
00:08:39.660as far as i'm concerned what did your father do that was so wrong except ask somebody an opinion
00:08:45.020about something and by the way as far as blocking a car and like that is the police involved in this
00:08:50.860at all i mean have they been asked to investigate this matter that's the wild thing i don't know
00:08:58.860that they have so i believe it was only campus security that got involved and they sent the
00:09:05.660notice of trespass to the guelph police um if charges had actually been laid and it had actually
00:09:14.540been like a violent crime, then we would have known something. The police would have actually
00:09:18.080done an investigation. At least that's my understanding of how our law and justice system
00:09:22.300works, is that they would have looked at both sides and actually weighed the data and the
00:09:26.140information. And I personally would love to know if there is footage, if there's like security
00:09:32.680footage from that parking lot, because this is a parking lot, a visitor parking lot at the
00:09:36.420University of Guelph. And if there is, then it would confirm our side of the story that there was
00:09:41.900no seeking them out there was no chasing them there was no premeditated assaults and there
00:09:50.020was no blocking their vehicle in yeah and I just think the whole story is incredible though and the
00:09:57.280fact that the university is like they have they have not responded to my repeated request to be
00:10:03.920like hey tell me what are the allegations against me what did I do specifically the only reason that
00:10:10.660i'm banned and my other two siblings aren't is because my name was listed on the license plate
00:10:15.620of our vehicle as a driver for insurance purposes and my siblings aren't listed on that because
00:10:20.820they're just too young i think you have a human rights case here frankly i mean if they want to
00:10:25.220have want to put this before a human rights tribunal you can i i think you have a case if
00:10:31.460you want to go in that direction obviously that's entirely up to you but the idea that somehow you
00:10:36.020You or your father would owe anybody an apology simply for asking somebody's opinion.
00:10:41.040I mean, if that's going to be an issue in this country, we have no free speech left.
00:10:44.500It's dead. It's over. Not only on campuses, but outside because of some of these laws that the liberal government are bringing in that are basically chilling, having a chilling effect on people's ability, long held.
00:11:02.400treasured ability to simply have open and honest engagement with others. It's absolutely ridiculous.0.79
00:11:12.880And the fact that they're even suggesting that it's hate speech, when I reached out to the0.83
00:11:19.200security office there, the response that I got back was that it was the tone and intent of the
00:11:25.060conversation that was unwelcome, not necessarily what was said. So it isn't even like specific
00:11:30.520words that they're pinpointing here it was the tone and intent and yet the letter still says
00:11:35.720that because of certain actions on march 6th that i'm banned um which honestly is ridiculous at this
00:11:43.080point yeah what's your next move well i want to have a conversation with these girls i want to
00:11:49.800understand where they're where they're coming from i want i want the breach to be healed i want them
00:11:54.360them to understand our side, because I wish that they were open to the conversation, because I
00:12:01.580would love to have that conversation. I want this wound to be healed, and I would love for the
00:12:06.140university, without any further need for action, I would love for the university to remove these
00:12:11.960trespass notices, because this is ridiculous. This is my father's university. This is my work
00:12:17.360that they're impeding. And I just it's ridiculous. It really is. Well, I want to thank you for0.94
00:12:26.220speaking out because some people in your shoes might have just shrugged it off and moved it on
00:12:31.520and nothing gets accomplished when people do that. You have to be public. You have to go public and
00:12:37.480you have to raise these issues in the public square, which is really all that your father
00:12:42.880was doing. If they didn't want to talk to him, all they had to do was say, I got nothing to say to
00:12:46.620you, you know, go away, leave us alone. And that would have been the end of it. I know that
00:12:50.400having been, we're having worked as a journalist for decades, you know, it happens all the time.
00:12:55.520You want to talk to somebody and, you know, we can put a mic in front of somebody's face. You
00:13:00.560can't force people to speak to you. You walk away and say, I'm not talking to you for whatever
00:13:04.440reason. That's a freedom that we have. We have the freedom to ask people questions, to engage
00:13:09.580with people. And they have the freedom to say, I don't want to engage with you. Thank you very
00:13:13.760much goodbye and walk away. That's the way it works in Canada. And apparently the University
00:13:18.760of Guelph doesn't understand that. But again, I want to thank you for coming on the show and
00:13:23.800please stay in touch with us as this story progresses. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for
00:13:31.540helping me spread the word because I think this does need to be talked about in the public square
00:13:35.360for sure. And I do hope that the university listens to reason. I hope the director of security
00:13:40.980there, listens to reason, and I hope that he removes these trespass notices. Yeah, that's my
00:13:47.480hope right now. Sarah, appreciate it. Take care. Thank you. Our guest today is Juna News journalist
00:13:54.040Clayton DeMain, who's been covering this story. Welcome to the show, Clayton. Thanks for having
00:13:59.840me, Mark. I mean, so many of us saw the video of Sarah talking about how she'd been banned from the
00:14:06.980University of Guelph. She was not a student there. She was there for another event, I believe a
00:14:12.460Christian-related event at the university. And somehow there was an incident there in which
00:14:18.520someone within, you know, maybe shouting distance of her, like her father, was involved and engaged
00:14:26.100in some kind of conversation with people in a car next to her. And that, out of all that,
00:14:32.440came this incredible action by the University of Guelph to ban her. What do you make of this?
00:14:37.880Yeah, so talking to her, it sounds like it was, you know, like she even asked them to tell her
00:14:45.480what she did wrong. And it seemed like it was just because she was in the same car, she got out of
00:14:51.400the same car as that, you know, it was her father who struck up this conversation. She was, as she
00:14:58.600said 10 feet away and her brother actually got out of the car and was holding the car door open
00:15:05.320um because the conversation was interesting and so he he she says he's 16 he doesn't know what
00:15:12.440he's doing and he's just kind of listening into the conversation but it kind of brings the question
00:15:17.720of is it uh does it cross a line to ask somebody from a certain community about issues that are
00:15:25.960pressing in their community, right? Like if a Nigerian Christian, you know, you're talking to
00:15:32.320a Nigerian Christian, would it be appropriate to ask them about their thoughts on, you know,
00:15:37.120the Nigerian government's lack of action or action of, you know, Islamic terrorism
00:15:43.900threatening their community? Yeah, I mean, it shows a cultural difference here. When people
00:15:53.040come to our country, they're not used to sort of the free and open discussion of issues that might
00:15:59.120be deemed controversial in their country. My issue is with the University of Guelph,
00:16:05.460which seems to side with the anti-free speech side. I mean, I can understand why Canadians1.00
00:16:11.460will feel perfectly free to ask somebody, well, what do you think of this? Or what do you think
00:16:16.560of that? You know, you can always say, you know, pound sand, I got nothing to say to you.
00:16:20.800if you don't want to talk to them. But somehow this escalated to the point where they went,
00:16:26.580I guess, filed a complaint with the university who had this ham-fisted reaction. And I think
00:16:33.980this also speaks to the level of anti-free speech sentiment amongst the zealots in the
00:16:40.860administration, not only at Guelph, but at universities across the country, really. What
00:16:45.840do you think? Yeah, absolutely. And as I noted in the article, the university actually has a
00:16:51.980commitment to free expression, to uphold free expression. So I imagine if this became a charter
00:16:57.420challenge, that will be brought up. I've seen other cases where that's like front and center is
00:17:04.980what is the university's commitment to these rights that people have? And it just goes to
00:17:10.060the question of should campuses be a place where free expression, even if that conversation
00:17:17.440is unwelcomed, as the university put it to Sarah, should these conversations be allowed