Juno News - January 08, 2019


The True North Report： Leftist professors are SUING Lindsay Shepherd


Episode Stats

Length

30 minutes

Words per Minute

168.69823

Word Count

5,213

Sentence Count

12

Misogynist Sentences

11

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary

In this episode, Andrew Lawton talks about the Lindsay Shepard case, and why it's so important that we protect the right to free speech on Canadian campuses. Lindsay Shepherd was a teaching assistant at the University of Toronto, when she recorded a video clip of Jordan Peterson's controversial views on gender pronouns being debated in a classroom discussion, and then decided to take matters into her own hands. Now, she's suing the university for $3.5 million.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Hello everyone, good afternoon. Welcome to the True North Report. My name is
00:00:04.920 Andrew Lawton broadcasting live across Facebook right now. I'm a fellow at the
00:00:09.560 True North Initiative and we're here on January 7th to talk about a big story in
00:00:15.480 Canada that has been going on for a little over a year and it has to do with
00:00:21.100 one of the biggest issues that we face in 2019 and that is free speech and
00:00:25.880 specifically free speech on college and university campuses. So I'm going to talk
00:00:30.880 a fair bit over the next little while about not just the Lindsay Shepard case
00:00:36.380 but really the themes of this case that make it much bigger than Lindsay Shepard
00:00:41.900 but there are so many different dimensions to this. I have to give a bit of the
00:00:46.060 backstory here and bear with me and I know a lot of people have been following
00:00:49.820 this but it's such a profoundly not unique example but a profoundly well it's a good
00:00:58.580 example quite frankly not because it's a positive case but a good example it
00:01:02.840 really instilling in everyone what people should already know about these
00:01:08.720 which is that campuses are not places for free speech and that's been one of the
00:01:14.440 biggest challenges here. So if you're just tuning in I welcome you very much I'm a
00:01:18.560 fellow at the true north initiative and one of our big issues and certainly one of
00:01:23.080 my big issues is preserving and protecting constitutional liberties across
00:01:26.880 Canada and that includes the right to free speech not just because free speech
00:01:31.680 is a good thing but because free speech is an essential hallmark of a free
00:01:37.280 society without speech without debate you lose your freedom and when you bring
00:01:42.680 that less in the macro sense of a society and more into context of just a
00:01:47.940 a campus or academia in general without free speech you have no free inquiry
00:01:54.360 without free inquiry you have no education without education these
00:01:57.940 universities cease to actually be anything other than institutions of
00:02:02.940 indoctrination and this is where the Lindsay Shepherd case really is so
00:02:08.220 exceptional so to go back to November of 2017 Lindsay Shepherd who at the time was I
00:02:14.460 I think 20 21 22 years old something like that was doing what most students were
00:02:21.000 she was going to school doing her thing she was not a right-wing fire breather by
00:02:26.520 any stretch and she decided that she wanted to do something that shouldn't
00:02:30.540 actually be an exceptional thing and that is have all sides of a discussion
00:02:35.880 represented she was a teaching assistant she was in an undergraduate class for
00:02:40.980 which she was the TA and she showed a clip from Television Ontario so that's the
00:02:45.780 Ontario equivalent of CBC and the clip as you know was of a debate about gender
00:02:52.380 pronouns the clip featured Jordan Peterson who had one particular
00:02:56.520 perspective of this that is essentially that he doesn't believe in the
00:03:01.540 fluidity of pronouns like some of the SJW leftists do and which is fine no one I
00:03:06.840 mean this is not even about what you believe in gender pronouns but she shows this clip gets
00:03:13.460 hauled before this three person panel including her own professor another professor from the
00:03:19.620 department and the school's gender violence manager because showing a video clip is
00:03:25.140 apparently an act of gender violence that requires a gender violence manager from the
00:03:29.640 diversity and equity department which is supposedly a department that has to exist and this three
00:03:36.200 person panel 45 minute meeting she has the foresight to record what happened in the
00:03:42.260 meeting which most students wouldn't think of and thank goodness Lindsay Shepherd did she
00:03:47.780 records that and the rest of course is history but where we are now is that
00:03:54.320 this story is being litigated in the courtrooms it's already been dealt with on
00:03:59.000 the campus it's already been dealt with in the court of public opinion but now
00:04:02.780 there are actually three legal cases going on in Canadian courtrooms to deal with what happened
00:04:09.540 in that November 2017 meeting and I want to this is so complicated because of how convoluted this story
00:04:18.980 is but but please do bear with me here in that meeting one of the ones who got it worse was
00:04:24.500 obviously Lindsay Shepherd she was the one being told that this was not a hate crime but basically a
00:04:30.560 hate crime they didn't use those words it's my word they were telling her that it was creating
00:04:36.440 toxicity in the classroom that it was making it a harmful learning environment for young students
00:04:42.820 she was further to that being told that even though they weren't punishing her that her educational
00:04:51.740 career would be in jeopardy if she continued doing this type of thing and what happened in that meeting was
00:04:58.820 that to drive home the point to Lindsay that she was behaving in a way that they thought wrong
00:05:04.520 they went after Jordan Peterson infamously comparing him to Adolf Hitler said no no no if you are going
00:05:13.280 to show a clip of Jordan Peterson you can't do it in a neutral way you have to criticize it so they were
00:05:18.920 actually telling her you have to be anti Jordan Peterson to have a place in this classroom discussion so she's
00:05:28.580 suing because this whole ordeal she says has made her unemployable in her chosen field which is academia
00:05:34.280 she's suing Laurier and the three people in that meeting Herbert Pimlott
00:05:38.780 Nathan Rambachana who was her professor and Adria Joel who was the you know deputy assistant gender violence coordinator for
00:05:48.500 offenses and grievances against mankind or whatever it is and she's suing them three and a half million dollars and you know a lot of people might think that she doesn't have a case and she's suing them three and a half million dollars and you know a lot of people might think that she doesn't have a case
00:05:58.280 I don't know I'm not a lawyer but I do think that she was very clearly wronged and this I'm sorry three point six million dollar case is really rooted in that that this inquisition wronged her and was negligent in that it has now damaged her ability to work in academia and if you hear some of the things that Lindsay's written and spoken about about the way that she was treated after this whole thing happened
00:06:28.260 uh people not wanting to be in her class professors being very uneasy about her no one really talking to her she was honestly shunned as an outcast after this and this was all because of the school's doing
00:06:40.980 but what's interesting here is that Laurier apologized the president of Laurier University apologized to Lindsay in a very public statement that said this shouldn't have happened we've listened to the audio
00:06:53.220 and yeah we were wrong you were right and then Nathan Rambacana Lindsay's professor apologized to her directly now this is key he said he was not forced to that he decided to that he took it upon himself
00:07:09.040 to apologize from himself and in his apology he also acknowledged that he was wrong to talk about Jordan Peterson the way he did
00:07:21.200 he said that he was wrong to compare him to Hitler I'm going to read the exact quote from Nathan Rambacana not about the whole thing but about the Jordan Peterson line in particular
00:07:32.740 I implied that Dr. Peterson is like Hitler which is untrue and was never my intention
00:07:40.460 while I disagree strongly with many of Dr. Peterson's academic positions and actions
00:07:45.360 the tired analogy does him a disservice and was the opposite of useful in our discussion
00:07:52.340 so there's an acknowledgement of wrongdoing and more importantly there is an acknowledgement
00:07:56.780 that it shouldn't have happened and that he regrets it as part of an apology letter
00:08:01.600 and it literally in the first line says I wanted to write to apologize to you
00:08:06.820 so Nathan Rambacana apologizes to Lindsay Shepard for this meeting
00:08:10.720 and now we bring it to the current time and Nathan Rambacana is actually suing Lindsay Shepard
00:08:18.140 over her recording of this meeting
00:08:20.940 but why this case is so interesting is that he's not suing over
00:08:26.660 he's not just suing her outright
00:08:29.500 he is suing her as part of not her lawsuit against him
00:08:34.060 but suing her as part of Jordan Peterson's lawsuit against him and against Laurier
00:08:38.780 and against Pim Lod and Adria Joel
00:08:42.460 and this is a fascinating development because they're not countersuing it sounds like
00:08:48.560 in Lindsay Shepard's case against Laurier
00:08:50.840 they may in the future they may be that I'm not aware of
00:08:53.460 but I haven't heard of anything
00:08:54.760 they're invoking Lindsay and trying to make her the responsible party
00:09:00.040 in Jordan Peterson's lawsuit against them
00:09:03.940 and this is the epitome of trying to pass the buck
00:09:08.820 so Jordan Peterson's filing his own lawsuit
00:09:11.460 not as much as that of Lindsay Shepard
00:09:15.200 but Jordan Peterson's lawsuit for one and a half million I believe
00:09:20.220 basically says that they've defamed him
00:09:23.220 he said that the three faculty members in the school itself
00:09:27.640 defamed him in this meeting
00:09:30.160 by comparing him to Hitler
00:09:31.920 by making him out to be a bigot, a transphobe, a racist, a this or that
00:09:36.040 they're defaming him
00:09:37.440 now their defense of this was at first
00:09:40.680 well no we didn't defame him
00:09:42.480 he hasn't suffered damages
00:09:44.240 his career is still going well
00:09:45.640 so you know everything should be fine
00:09:47.500 but then there's another side of that
00:09:50.580 which is that okay but if we did defame him
00:09:53.280 it's not our fault
00:09:54.840 it's Lindsay Shepard's fault
00:09:56.480 because she's the one that recorded it
00:09:59.040 and I wrote a column about this that you can read at www.truenorthinitiative.com
00:10:05.240 because you actually need to see it
00:10:07.960 I actually need to bring in like the big Glenn Beck chalkboard
00:10:10.460 and start drawing all the lines
00:10:11.900 because this is just so bizarre and convoluted
00:10:14.800 but Jordan Peterson's suing Laurier and the professors
00:10:19.180 Lindsay Shepard is suing Laurier and the professors
00:10:22.720 as part of the Jordan Peterson case
00:10:25.600 the professors are suing Lindsay
00:10:27.320 saying that she's responsible for the defamation of Jordan
00:10:30.700 that never happened
00:10:31.920 that Nathan Rambicana already apologized for
00:10:36.140 so I said in the column are you dizzy yet
00:10:39.780 but in all honesty they're saying that
00:10:41.620 he wasn't defamed but if he was
00:10:43.820 it wasn't their fault it was Lindsay's
00:10:45.440 and even though they're saying it didn't happen
00:10:47.800 they already apologized for what was really
00:10:50.580 the most egregious characterization in that Inquisition audio
00:10:55.180 and that was saying that Jordan Peterson
00:10:56.960 is like Adolf Hitler
00:10:58.900 and there's that old Godwin's law
00:11:02.060 that every online discussion will eventually
00:11:04.180 at some point become about Hitler and World War II
00:11:08.240 left-wing professors and most of the radical left right now
00:11:12.780 it doesn't even take more than one step to get there
00:11:15.880 it's not like oh you know Jordan Peterson is like that guy
00:11:18.900 who's like that guy who's like that guy who's like Hitler
00:11:21.140 they go right to Hitler
00:11:22.220 do not pass go do not collect $200
00:11:24.660 they go right to Hitler
00:11:26.680 that is their number one
00:11:28.500 and frankly their only toolkit
00:11:31.260 when it comes to debating these issues
00:11:33.140 anyone they disagree with in Hitler
00:11:34.980 and other lessons from Laurier University
00:11:37.560 that is essentially what gets you a PhD from Laurier these days
00:11:41.840 you don't even need to defend your dissertation
00:11:43.960 you just stay on the front page
00:11:45.360 this person's Hitler and boom
00:11:47.200 before you know it you're a professor
00:11:48.440 but this is actually quite offensive
00:11:51.660 not just to Peterson and Shepard
00:11:54.120 but that they're trying to relitigate this
00:11:57.640 after admitting they're wrong
00:12:00.100 it's offensive to everyone
00:12:03.040 it's offensive to everyone that they tried to tell
00:12:05.880 they believed in free speech
00:12:07.940 it's offensive to anyone who's a graduate of Laurier
00:12:12.620 anyone who's ever going to get a fundraising letter from Laurier
00:12:15.800 and you know quite frankly
00:12:18.240 I look at this
00:12:20.120 I've looked at it from the beginning with a level of skepticism here
00:12:24.420 because I didn't believe that Laurier was all that apologetic
00:12:27.640 and even when the letter came out a month after this blew up
00:12:31.320 apologizing to Lindsay Shepard from
00:12:33.360 Deborah McClatchy the head of Laurier
00:12:35.320 I didn't buy into it
00:12:36.800 and when the school said we're going to you know have a bunch of introspection here
00:12:40.180 and really delve into our commitment to free speech and whatever
00:12:43.940 because the commitment to free speech from Laurier
00:12:46.860 and a number of schools fall into this category
00:12:49.380 is littered with caveats
00:12:51.700 of we believe in free speech but
00:12:54.300 we believe in free expression but
00:12:56.620 we believe
00:12:57.160 well
00:12:57.620 but is exactly where they can shove their commitment to free speech
00:13:01.440 because it's non-existent when they put it with all these different caveats
00:13:05.180 and even from Rambucana
00:13:07.360 Nathan Rambucana was getting a fair bit of a thrashing on Twitter
00:13:11.780 when this whole thing happened
00:13:13.520 people saying you know you're a fascist
00:13:15.500 you're a Nazi
00:13:16.120 you're a Marxist
00:13:16.920 whatever
00:13:17.220 and look a lot of it was incredibly excessive
00:13:20.380 not appropriate
00:13:21.620 despite what he did
00:13:23.620 there was a lot of really nasty comments that came at him
00:13:27.960 and when he published that apology
00:13:30.580 I really hoped
00:13:31.760 that he had learned
00:13:33.440 that yes he overstepped
00:13:35.560 and perhaps his own worldview
00:13:37.060 had gotten in the way of what was supposed to be
00:13:39.780 when he became a professor
00:13:41.000 a commitment to education
00:13:42.760 but the fact that he and his colleague
00:13:45.480 Herbert Pimlott
00:13:46.420 are re-litigating this
00:13:47.860 suggests not only that they didn't learn anything
00:13:50.520 from the initial ordeal
00:13:52.100 but it also suggests that they don't even understand
00:13:55.320 what was at stake when this whole thing happened
00:13:58.240 that you can't just slander someone
00:14:01.400 because you disagree with their perspectives
00:14:03.800 and get away with it
00:14:06.400 because we don't know how often
00:14:08.180 the Jordan Peterson is Hitler comparison
00:14:11.020 was seeping into the classroom
00:14:12.700 we just don't
00:14:13.620 and if they were saying it
00:14:15.160 so matter-of-factly
00:14:17.000 in a meeting with a student
00:14:18.720 who dared to show a video clip of them
00:14:20.680 it suggests to me
00:14:22.060 that this is probably a pretty commonplace staple
00:14:26.680 in their worldview and in their classrooms
00:14:28.780 not necessarily about Peterson
00:14:30.420 but about conservatives in general
00:14:32.660 about the idea of free speech in general
00:14:34.740 there's no excuse in 2017
00:14:38.080 when this happened
00:14:39.260 to have not already thought about
00:14:41.700 the role that free speech plays in a university
00:14:44.280 so I don't buy into the idea
00:14:46.640 that the school had never really thought of it
00:14:48.480 before the Lindsay Shepard thing happened
00:14:50.200 if they did
00:14:50.980 that speaks volumes
00:14:52.680 that the school was never really that committed
00:14:54.920 to free speech
00:14:56.420 and to the principles of free speech
00:14:57.940 so I'm really interested
00:15:01.080 in where the legal side of this is going to go
00:15:05.800 because as far as the academic side
00:15:07.920 it was supposed to be done
00:15:09.080 Laurier apologized
00:15:10.360 said it was wrong
00:15:11.340 Nathan Rambicana apologized
00:15:12.760 said he was wrong
00:15:13.760 Lindsay Shepard's now graduated
00:15:15.880 she's suing of course
00:15:17.080 as is Jordan Peterson
00:15:18.200 but this further action
00:15:20.680 by the professors
00:15:22.620 which is something that goes so far
00:15:25.600 beyond them defending themselves
00:15:27.580 it's not them filing a statement of defense
00:15:29.620 it's them saying that
00:15:31.580 Lindsay Shepard is the perpetrator here
00:15:34.560 and that's the worst part of this
00:15:36.460 it's one thing to say
00:15:37.580 no no no
00:15:38.000 nothing legally bad happened
00:15:40.080 nothing happened for which
00:15:41.160 we should be legally liable
00:15:42.360 it's them saying that
00:15:44.520 Lindsay Shepard is the one
00:15:46.080 who started this all
00:15:47.080 even though we apologize for the meeting
00:15:50.060 because they think that
00:15:50.980 they should be able to say
00:15:51.860 whatever they want
00:15:52.600 in a closed door inquisition
00:15:54.380 without having to pay for it
00:15:56.720 literally or figuratively
00:15:58.460 the only reason that Lindsay
00:16:01.020 has become the iconic figure
00:16:03.440 in the free speech fight
00:16:04.520 that she has
00:16:05.220 is because she recorded this
00:16:07.160 because she did something
00:16:08.460 that made it
00:16:09.400 so this could not just be
00:16:11.400 she said
00:16:12.680 he said
00:16:13.240 they said
00:16:13.880 Z said
00:16:14.440 Zim said
00:16:15.020 whatever the pronouns
00:16:15.900 Laurier are
00:16:16.700 but this is the whole point here
00:16:19.020 is that she actually had the proof
00:16:20.900 and even people who are not in this
00:16:24.200 deeply immersed world of free speech fights
00:16:27.720 like I am
00:16:28.200 like I live for this stuff
00:16:29.120 I've been following this since 2010
00:16:31.120 when people didn't even know
00:16:32.220 there was a free speech fight
00:16:33.440 but she did this in a way that
00:16:36.060 got most normal people to listen
00:16:38.720 and be like
00:16:39.040 well hang on
00:16:39.520 that
00:16:39.740 this just is not right
00:16:42.200 and why she was such
00:16:44.680 and is such a compelling figure here
00:16:46.340 is because Lindsay herself
00:16:48.000 was not a free speech fighter
00:16:49.660 she was not someone
00:16:50.700 who had ever really thought of this issue
00:16:52.680 and I've interviewed her
00:16:53.720 about this in the past
00:16:54.740 she was a left winger
00:16:56.300 she was pro transgender pronouns
00:16:58.900 pro climate change
00:17:00.280 pro choice
00:17:00.960 pro all of these things
00:17:02.280 that the liberal Marxist professors
00:17:04.660 would have agreed with her on
00:17:06.160 but she came by it honestly
00:17:08.460 and they didn't
00:17:09.740 she came by her views
00:17:11.200 out of a belief that
00:17:12.180 we need to be able to talk about
00:17:13.460 these things openly
00:17:14.260 they came by their beliefs
00:17:16.080 from the perspective of
00:17:17.280 no one should be able to have
00:17:19.240 any other beliefs
00:17:20.300 and this is something that
00:17:21.920 liberal professors are doing
00:17:23.900 with increasing frequency right now
00:17:25.840 to not just advance a position
00:17:28.580 but to advance a position
00:17:30.480 by it being the last position remaining
00:17:32.780 because we're going to get rid of
00:17:34.800 all the other ones
00:17:35.520 so it's not that we want
00:17:37.120 our Marxist worldview
00:17:38.860 that involves censorship
00:17:39.880 and authoritarianism
00:17:41.600 in the classroom
00:17:42.240 to be the best
00:17:43.000 and we're going to argue why
00:17:44.160 it's we don't want there
00:17:45.420 to be any other position
00:17:46.800 and the lawsuit filing
00:17:50.540 as you if you will
00:17:51.860 the third party claim
00:17:52.980 the lawsuit within a lawsuit
00:17:54.220 I haven't seen the claim yet
00:17:55.920 and I was told
00:17:57.740 in a story that I read
00:17:59.580 the Canadian press wrote
00:18:01.200 that Lindsay Shepard's lawyer
00:18:02.720 has not yet seen it
00:18:03.720 he just knows that it's been filed
00:18:05.320 and you know
00:18:07.540 there is a huge
00:18:09.060 huge possibility here
00:18:12.040 that this case will go on
00:18:14.340 and on and on
00:18:15.180 and it proves with every step
00:18:19.000 that the people
00:18:20.420 that most needed to take
00:18:21.720 something away from this saga
00:18:23.000 have not done that
00:18:24.560 and that's Pimlott
00:18:26.860 and Rambucana
00:18:27.960 and Joel
00:18:29.020 and Laurier University itself
00:18:30.640 and the timing of this
00:18:32.040 is interesting
00:18:32.600 I'm going to have a video
00:18:33.380 about this later in the week
00:18:34.580 I think
00:18:34.960 that as of January 1st
00:18:37.700 all public universities
00:18:38.940 in Ontario
00:18:39.620 including Laurier
00:18:40.580 have to have a free speech
00:18:42.440 policy on campus
00:18:43.620 they have to have
00:18:44.480 a policy that proves
00:18:46.820 they are committed
00:18:47.620 to upholding the values
00:18:49.300 of free speech
00:18:50.040 free thought
00:18:50.720 academic freedom
00:18:52.020 and all of that
00:18:52.620 and this came about
00:18:54.280 because of Doug Ford
00:18:55.200 the new premier of Ontario
00:18:56.380 introduced the policy
00:18:57.900 that says
00:18:58.360 if schools don't do it
00:18:59.460 the province may pull
00:19:00.660 their funding
00:19:01.160 and it shouldn't have
00:19:03.400 had to come this far
00:19:04.560 this shouldn't need
00:19:06.160 to be in the courtroom
00:19:07.140 right now
00:19:07.880 because it shouldn't
00:19:09.320 be happening
00:19:10.020 in the first place
00:19:11.300 that this inquisition
00:19:12.320 took place
00:19:13.000 and put Lindsay Shepard
00:19:14.540 in the position
00:19:15.100 that she had to be in
00:19:16.160 and that's really
00:19:18.980 a big part of this
00:19:20.700 right now
00:19:21.640 that Lindsay was
00:19:24.840 in a position
00:19:25.360 where she said
00:19:25.900 look I've been wronged
00:19:26.800 I need to sue
00:19:27.420 that's her rationale
00:19:28.960 Jordan Peterson
00:19:30.200 I have
00:19:31.060 I have questions
00:19:33.280 about whether
00:19:34.520 the case is a viable one
00:19:36.000 I don't know what it is
00:19:37.160 because generally speaking
00:19:38.820 you have to prove damages
00:19:40.020 in any defamation case
00:19:41.620 I don't know
00:19:42.380 if he was damaged by this
00:19:44.300 I think that it was mean
00:19:46.220 I think it was slanderous
00:19:47.560 I think it was dishonest
00:19:48.640 what the people said
00:19:49.400 I don't know
00:19:50.240 if it's something
00:19:50.700 that can be litigated
00:19:52.020 but had they just defended
00:19:54.140 by saying
00:19:54.740 look this is a nonsense case
00:19:56.740 we didn't defame
00:19:57.800 Jordan Peterson
00:19:58.460 we made comments
00:19:59.440 that were in the context
00:20:00.980 of academic inquiry
00:20:02.000 we you know
00:20:03.120 probably should have
00:20:03.880 used different words
00:20:04.720 but you know
00:20:06.180 really he didn't suffer
00:20:07.320 from this
00:20:07.740 I would have a lot more
00:20:09.260 respect for their defense
00:20:10.680 than them trying to say
00:20:13.140 okay nothing happened
00:20:14.560 that was bad
00:20:15.380 he wasn't defamed
00:20:17.460 he didn't suffer
00:20:18.120 but you know
00:20:19.040 on second thought
00:20:20.140 look at that Lindsay Shepard
00:20:21.600 girl over there
00:20:22.180 we think she bears
00:20:23.480 the responsibility
00:20:24.260 because
00:20:24.980 she published
00:20:27.160 these words
00:20:28.120 well yeah
00:20:29.260 but they're your words
00:20:30.540 they're your words
00:20:31.800 you said these things
00:20:32.900 she was a whistleblower
00:20:34.740 she was a whistleblower
00:20:36.060 I mean that's like saying
00:20:36.800 if I quoted someone
00:20:38.020 like if I
00:20:38.800 if I go over to
00:20:39.720 you know
00:20:40.260 John Smith over on
00:20:41.700 on Elm Street
00:20:42.500 says you know
00:20:43.960 Justin Trudeau
00:20:44.820 eats kittens
00:20:45.860 and I say out loud
00:20:47.280 John Smith says
00:20:48.760 Justin Trudeau
00:20:49.580 eats kittens
00:20:50.140 I don't agree with
00:20:51.380 John Smith
00:20:51.860 but I want everyone to know
00:20:52.840 this is what
00:20:53.240 John Smith is saying
00:20:54.200 Justin Trudeau
00:20:55.520 cannot come to me
00:20:56.860 and say well
00:20:57.300 you said I eat kittens
00:20:58.760 no I didn't
00:20:59.460 I'm reflecting
00:21:01.420 I'm actually calling out
00:21:02.760 someone else
00:21:03.660 who thinks that
00:21:04.780 so Lindsay Shepard
00:21:05.880 has done the world
00:21:06.640 a service here
00:21:07.900 by exposing
00:21:09.200 this worldview
00:21:10.280 that exists in campus
00:21:11.820 and you know
00:21:13.320 one of the words
00:21:14.240 that
00:21:14.580 or phrases rather
00:21:15.980 that came out of this
00:21:17.000 claim
00:21:17.680 that was in the media report
00:21:19.140 of it in the Canadian press
00:21:20.220 is that Shepard
00:21:22.100 was exercising
00:21:23.440 power and control
00:21:24.940 over the situation
00:21:26.620 because she had
00:21:27.540 the recording
00:21:28.100 so she was the one
00:21:29.460 that was the powerful
00:21:30.780 controlling figure here
00:21:32.080 and I find that
00:21:33.120 so laughable
00:21:33.820 this little
00:21:34.340 you know
00:21:34.720 mild-mannered
00:21:35.520 21-22 year old
00:21:37.280 student
00:21:38.080 teaching assistant
00:21:39.280 in a room
00:21:40.340 with three
00:21:41.460 academic officials
00:21:43.520 being told
00:21:44.840 that she was
00:21:46.640 no different
00:21:47.200 than anyone
00:21:47.780 who quoted Hitler
00:21:48.520 and they're saying
00:21:49.840 she had power
00:21:51.120 and control
00:21:51.700 over them
00:21:53.440 now she did have control
00:21:54.800 over her own situation
00:21:56.120 but fighting back
00:21:58.360 is never an act
00:21:59.680 of aggression
00:22:00.260 fighting back
00:22:01.560 is how you meet
00:22:02.600 aggression
00:22:03.500 and again
00:22:04.620 I go back
00:22:05.200 to what is the most
00:22:05.960 fundamental point here
00:22:07.080 that they were the ones
00:22:08.980 who aggressed
00:22:09.740 against her
00:22:10.320 they were the ones
00:22:11.540 who started this
00:22:12.440 she finished it
00:22:13.440 they brought her
00:22:14.780 into this
00:22:15.220 she defended herself
00:22:16.500 and for them
00:22:18.060 to now say
00:22:18.600 that this is all
00:22:19.340 her fault
00:22:20.260 is despicable
00:22:22.340 it is absolutely
00:22:24.200 despicable
00:22:24.980 and I don't know
00:22:26.340 what's going to happen
00:22:27.000 with the case
00:22:27.600 I really don't
00:22:29.040 I would like
00:22:30.220 to believe
00:22:30.980 I would like
00:22:32.320 to believe
00:22:32.900 that a judge
00:22:34.380 will just throw it out
00:22:35.620 and say
00:22:35.940 look come on
00:22:36.580 this is just
00:22:37.480 completely nonsensical
00:22:38.740 I don't know
00:22:40.100 if a lawsuit
00:22:41.180 within a lawsuit
00:22:41.960 which is what this is
00:22:42.940 a third party claim
00:22:43.960 can be thrown out
00:22:45.280 as a slap
00:22:46.060 which is a strategic lawsuit
00:22:47.600 against public participation
00:22:48.740 I don't know
00:22:49.960 if that's an option
00:22:50.740 available
00:22:51.280 to Lindsay Shepard
00:22:53.260 and her lawyer
00:22:54.060 Howard Levitt
00:22:54.760 I don't know
00:22:56.020 what's going to happen
00:22:56.640 with Peterson's lawsuit
00:22:58.700 and with Lindsay's lawsuit
00:23:00.480 I mean
00:23:00.820 this is all stuff
00:23:01.860 that stands to be seen
00:23:03.600 I'm focusing on
00:23:04.900 the bigger narrative here
00:23:06.540 that seems to have
00:23:07.960 driven to this
00:23:08.720 happening in the first place
00:23:10.000 and that is that
00:23:11.060 the professors
00:23:12.540 who you'd most think
00:23:13.980 would be positioned
00:23:14.780 right now
00:23:15.280 to take a step back
00:23:16.200 and say
00:23:16.640 yes
00:23:17.700 we overstepped
00:23:18.660 our bounds
00:23:19.360 are doubling down
00:23:21.200 tripling down
00:23:22.100 quadrupling down
00:23:23.260 and still not accepting
00:23:25.040 any responsibility
00:23:26.160 for what they had
00:23:27.840 the gall
00:23:28.500 and the audacity
00:23:29.460 to do
00:23:30.080 just 14 months ago
00:23:32.260 November of 2017
00:23:34.500 now a lot's changed
00:23:36.140 a lot has changed
00:23:37.680 in the free speech realm
00:23:38.700 in the last couple years
00:23:39.640 remember
00:23:40.320 it's only been
00:23:40.920 in the last couple years
00:23:41.840 that Jordan Peterson
00:23:42.840 has become a household name
00:23:44.180 that Lindsay Shepard
00:23:45.400 has become a household name
00:23:46.580 that universities
00:23:48.180 now have
00:23:49.300 a mechanism
00:23:51.400 by which they're expected
00:23:53.120 to uphold free speech
00:23:54.640 this is all happening
00:23:55.660 very recently
00:23:56.440 but the undercurrent
00:23:58.120 that's been leading
00:23:58.920 to this
00:23:59.420 has been going on
00:24:00.400 since
00:24:00.860 the 1980s
00:24:02.540 you know
00:24:03.500 I remember writing
00:24:04.460 a 30th anniversary
00:24:06.180 column
00:24:07.060 about
00:24:07.840 Alan Bloom's book
00:24:09.360 The Closing of the American Mind
00:24:10.880 if you haven't read the book
00:24:12.820 came out
00:24:13.400 I think 32 years ago now
00:24:15.080 or 31 years ago
00:24:16.060 simply incredible read
00:24:17.800 from a professor
00:24:19.100 before political correctness
00:24:21.100 was the word
00:24:21.980 that we know
00:24:22.700 that we all know
00:24:23.520 and that we all revile
00:24:25.400 and he was writing
00:24:26.400 about this undercurrent
00:24:27.620 of entitlement
00:24:29.400 that was taking place
00:24:30.740 on campuses
00:24:31.380 students that were
00:24:32.300 starting to feel like
00:24:33.660 they had a little bit
00:24:34.500 too much
00:24:35.140 or didn't have enough power
00:24:37.260 as to what
00:24:37.960 is taught in the classroom
00:24:39.440 and he was saying
00:24:41.340 that you know
00:24:41.840 professors
00:24:42.420 you know
00:24:43.380 need to be on guard
00:24:44.400 about this
00:24:45.060 but it's amazing
00:24:46.400 how this has flipped now
00:24:47.740 where the concern
00:24:49.060 then was that
00:24:49.720 ah these Marxist students
00:24:50.940 are you know
00:24:51.740 trying to throw
00:24:52.340 the curriculum out
00:24:53.200 well now
00:24:53.920 those Marxist students
00:24:54.980 of 1987
00:24:56.300 are the professors
00:24:59.040 of 2019
00:25:00.200 so the people
00:25:01.880 that Alan Bloom
00:25:02.620 warned us about
00:25:03.680 were the
00:25:05.280 Nathan Rambucanas
00:25:07.140 and Herbert Pimlotz
00:25:08.660 when they were students
00:25:10.000 who are now professors
00:25:11.040 because everyone
00:25:12.880 who couldn't deal
00:25:13.620 with that in the 80s
00:25:14.480 they left
00:25:14.860 they left academia
00:25:15.760 they went into other sectors
00:25:17.480 and I don't really blame them
00:25:19.220 and the ones who remained
00:25:21.100 were the ones
00:25:21.660 that were drinking
00:25:22.300 this Kool-Aid
00:25:23.060 the ones that are now
00:25:23.940 suing
00:25:24.500 a young woman
00:25:25.700 who just graduated
00:25:26.680 with a master's
00:25:27.640 who's trying to get
00:25:28.320 a foothold
00:25:28.920 in a career
00:25:29.900 and finds that she can't
00:25:31.560 because of what happened
00:25:33.360 to her at Laurier
00:25:34.460 because of the way
00:25:35.220 that Laurier
00:25:35.840 treated her
00:25:36.820 and where people need to
00:25:39.840 take some perspective here
00:25:42.340 is that even though
00:25:43.960 she was the one
00:25:44.800 that made the decision
00:25:45.660 to go public with this
00:25:46.980 she was going public
00:25:48.420 because it was her only way
00:25:49.680 to remedy the situation
00:25:51.060 so she created
00:25:52.980 the discussion about it
00:25:54.340 but she didn't create
00:25:55.380 the situation itself
00:25:57.100 and that's a distinction
00:25:58.360 that's a significant one
00:25:59.680 and it's one that's lost
00:26:01.620 on the professors
00:26:02.920 it's one that's lost
00:26:04.000 on Laurier
00:26:05.240 and it's one that's lost
00:26:06.180 and a lot of the people
00:26:06.900 that are calling
00:26:07.620 Lindsay Shepard
00:26:08.980 all sorts of names
00:26:09.860 and have been relentlessly
00:26:11.040 for the last year
00:26:12.160 and a bit
00:26:12.560 because they clearly
00:26:13.980 don't get
00:26:14.840 what the stakes are
00:26:16.100 of this
00:26:16.680 and you know
00:26:18.940 I've got my own issues
00:26:20.140 with judicial activism
00:26:21.400 so many so
00:26:23.160 that a lot of
00:26:24.240 what's going to happen
00:26:25.480 with this case
00:26:26.080 will not depend
00:26:26.760 on what the law says
00:26:27.860 but will depend
00:26:28.800 on which judge it is
00:26:30.100 that takes it over
00:26:31.120 and that's
00:26:31.780 that's a big issue
00:26:33.140 right there
00:26:33.660 that I mean
00:26:34.320 we don't even have time
00:26:35.160 to get into in this particular
00:26:36.700 True North report
00:26:38.380 but what we can do
00:26:40.100 is talk about the climate
00:26:42.020 because that's what we really need
00:26:43.520 to fix moving forward
00:26:44.580 the climate that led
00:26:46.080 to professors thinking
00:26:47.160 this was a good idea
00:26:48.580 because all of the legal
00:26:50.020 messiness
00:26:50.600 that's come from this
00:26:51.720 would have been avoided
00:26:53.240 if the situation itself
00:26:54.520 didn't happen
00:26:55.200 so beyond the legal stuff
00:26:57.640 we have to make sure
00:26:58.460 that the next
00:26:58.980 Lindsay Shepard
00:26:59.880 doesn't exist
00:27:01.000 and that the next
00:27:01.840 Laurier University
00:27:03.000 witch trial
00:27:04.080 doesn't exist
00:27:05.380 and I'm hopeful
00:27:07.420 that schools
00:27:08.420 having to have
00:27:09.200 these free speech policies
00:27:10.380 will at least
00:27:11.860 get the issue
00:27:13.100 addressed
00:27:14.820 but we also
00:27:16.340 haven't seen
00:27:17.240 the revolting
00:27:18.500 against this
00:27:19.140 I know student unions
00:27:20.120 have tried to say
00:27:20.960 that they don't think
00:27:22.420 this is a fair thing
00:27:23.480 there are going to be
00:27:24.000 court challenges
00:27:24.720 over this
00:27:25.360 whether student unions
00:27:26.760 are exempt from policies
00:27:28.060 or not
00:27:28.480 we still don't know
00:27:29.300 so there are a lot of
00:27:30.280 question marks about this
00:27:31.460 and really how seriously
00:27:32.940 will the government
00:27:34.400 enforce it
00:27:35.080 are they actually
00:27:35.640 going to cut funding
00:27:36.560 or are they just going to go
00:27:37.540 now now now
00:27:38.540 like if I was Doug Ford
00:27:39.920 I'd be like really going in
00:27:41.940 with a giant
00:27:43.340 bandsaw
00:27:45.160 and looking at their budgets
00:27:46.460 and saying
00:27:46.960 no free speech
00:27:47.800 alright we're cutting
00:27:48.500 this whole thing
00:27:49.140 I don't know
00:27:50.940 if he's going to do that
00:27:51.720 I don't know
00:27:52.200 if he's just going to
00:27:52.780 cut off public universities
00:27:53.940 because they don't
00:27:55.380 uphold free speech
00:27:56.420 but I can tell you
00:27:57.460 that if they start
00:27:58.540 to have the necessary
00:28:00.020 fear put into them
00:28:01.220 that their funding
00:28:02.280 is cut
00:28:02.780 it's amazing
00:28:03.460 how quickly
00:28:04.120 they'll change their tune
00:28:05.260 on whether they support
00:28:06.780 free speech
00:28:07.460 and that's the whole thing
00:28:09.660 is that these ideologues
00:28:11.060 are surprisingly weak-willed
00:28:13.740 because when they actually
00:28:15.440 have skin in the game
00:28:16.600 they aren't prepared
00:28:17.700 to stand by their principles
00:28:18.800 and we're seeing this
00:28:19.640 with Ram Buchanan
00:28:20.460 and Pimlott
00:28:21.020 when the you-know-what
00:28:22.180 hits the fan
00:28:22.920 they're not prepared
00:28:24.360 to stand their ground
00:28:25.240 they're passing the buck
00:28:26.300 saying it was someone
00:28:27.540 else's fault entirely
00:28:29.280 and they almost
00:28:31.680 got away with it
00:28:32.440 now we do have to
00:28:34.620 wrap things up
00:28:35.260 in just a moment here
00:28:36.260 but I wanted to
00:28:36.880 on a more personal note
00:28:37.960 if you're tuning in
00:28:38.660 stay with me
00:28:39.680 and if you're watching
00:28:40.240 this later
00:28:40.760 well you're watching it
00:28:41.860 anyway so
00:28:42.380 hi
00:28:42.700 talk about
00:28:44.180 how we're going
00:28:45.440 to fight this
00:28:46.060 because in 2019
00:28:46.980 as I mentioned
00:28:47.720 we've got a policy change
00:28:48.960 in Ontario
00:28:49.480 that I think
00:28:50.600 will really put
00:28:52.160 things on
00:28:53.340 a better track
00:28:54.440 but it's just
00:28:55.500 one province
00:28:56.280 and more importantly
00:28:57.980 we don't yet know
00:28:58.760 the impact
00:28:59.360 so what we're really
00:29:00.660 trying to do here
00:29:02.000 is a two-pronged
00:29:04.280 approach
00:29:04.560 we have to deal
00:29:05.300 with the cultural
00:29:05.940 aspect of this
00:29:06.900 we also have to deal
00:29:08.140 with the legal
00:29:08.640 aspect of it
00:29:09.460 and I'm pledging
00:29:11.000 in 2019
00:29:11.580 to do both
00:29:12.540 and this is something
00:29:13.280 that really
00:29:14.480 a tiny number
00:29:16.380 of groups
00:29:17.140 and individuals
00:29:17.780 are doing
00:29:18.680 so tiny
00:29:19.300 that I can't even
00:29:19.900 think of any
00:29:20.420 right now
00:29:20.940 that are making
00:29:21.840 the commitment
00:29:22.340 that I am right now
00:29:23.280 but I can't do it
00:29:24.020 without you
00:29:24.500 and what I'd like
00:29:25.900 you to do
00:29:26.400 please
00:29:26.860 is head on over
00:29:27.740 to truenorthinitiative.com
00:29:29.420 and consider
00:29:30.660 making a contribution
00:29:32.060 or if you really
00:29:33.200 want to be
00:29:33.800 in on the ground
00:29:35.040 level of this
00:29:35.840 join one of my clubs
00:29:37.440 now you can do this
00:29:38.380 for really $10 a month
00:29:40.740 you can do it
00:29:41.220 for more if you'd like
00:29:42.120 we'd love for you
00:29:42.680 to do it
00:29:43.140 for as much
00:29:43.940 as you're able to
00:29:44.740 but join my club
00:29:46.080 we've got some perks
00:29:46.980 on there
00:29:47.400 that we'll certainly
00:29:48.420 tell you about
00:29:49.180 on the website
00:29:49.920 but more importantly
00:29:51.360 it's about
00:29:52.500 getting in
00:29:53.780 to this fight
00:29:55.080 when it matters
00:29:55.960 we can't do this alone
00:29:57.860 we don't get
00:29:58.500 part of the $600 million
00:29:59.960 that Justin Trudeau
00:30:01.140 is giving his journalism
00:30:02.000 friends
00:30:02.500 we don't have
00:30:03.680 that infrastructure
00:30:04.620 we don't have
00:30:05.340 the war chest
00:30:06.080 that labor unions
00:30:07.460 do when it comes
00:30:08.100 to elections
00:30:08.540 we only get
00:30:09.480 to do this stuff
00:30:10.380 when you support us
00:30:12.020 so please do
00:30:13.460 if you want to
00:30:14.320 get more involved
00:30:15.040 and see this action
00:30:16.660 come to fruition
00:30:17.500 in 2019
00:30:18.220 please do join my club
00:30:19.880 I'll post a link
00:30:20.520 in the Facebook chat
00:30:21.460 over there
00:30:22.280 in just a moment
00:30:23.380 but thank you so much
00:30:24.360 for tuning in
00:30:25.180 we'll talk to you next week
00:30:26.380 and stay tuned
00:30:27.120 for the rest of the week
00:30:28.300 when we'll have
00:30:28.700 lots more videos
00:30:29.360 on this
00:30:29.800 and other subjects
00:30:30.980 at the True North Initiative
00:30:32.120 thank you
00:30:32.900 God bless
00:30:33.500 and good day Canada
00:30:34.380 you
00:30:44.200 you
00:30:44.780 you
00:30:46.280 you
00:30:47.280 you
00:30:51.720 you