The York Regional Police department should be ashamed. YRP Insp. Ricky Veerappan, who heads up the force’s so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau, was apparently disturbed that volunteer department chaplain Rabbi Mendel Kaplan invited the controversial American commentator Pamela Geller to address a local synagogue.
Geller is well known in the United States for her criticism of Islamist ideology and her opposition to building an Islamic centre near the site of the World Trade Center.
According to reports, Veerappan didn’t like the idea of her expressing such views, and, supposedly, told Kaplan his position with the department would be in question if he didn’t cancel the invitation. “If he did (host Geller), then we’d have to reassess our relation with (Kaplan),” Veerappan told a reporter. “Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.”
Whether the job threat was real, and whether anyone agrees or not with Geller’s views, Veerappan’s conduct is appalling. Canadians expect police to respect Charter provisions protecting freedom of speech. They are not supposed to act as censors at the behest of a particular community.
Unfortunately, the desire of some to stifle the freedoms of others with whom they disagree has become all too common. Journalists Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant were dragged before human rights tribunals by those who objected to their opinions about Islam. A speaking engagement by right-wing commentator Ann Coulter at the University of Ottawa was shut down by demonstrators. The Canadian government has tried to keep out George Galloway, a left-wing British politician hostile toward Israel. In Geller’s case, members of York Region’s Muslim community — of which Veerappan is a member — reportedly wanted the immigration minister’s office to keep her out of the country.
Interestingly, Veerappan’s conduct offends other Muslims. In a letter to York police chief Eric Jolliffe, Salim Mansur, a University of Western Ontario academic, wrote: “I am appalled that ... we continue to hear regularly how the liberal democratic tradition of Canada and the West is being systematically shredded by institutions sworn to protect it.” Some Muslims who’ve made Canada their home, he said, “need to learn the culture ... of a society that is open to debates and discussions however painful this might be to someone else’s sensibilities.”
Insp. Veerappan — the entire York Regional Police department? — appears to be among those who need this lesson.