Renowned Canadian author and psychologist Jordan Peterson touched on woke schools and assisted suicide during his Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life tour stop in Ottawa Monday night.
“I don’t think there is a more dire sin than corrupting children… maybe the only more egregious error is swearing to do nothing but violate your own conscience, you know, out of spite and bitterness,” the renowned personality said of the woke agenda in the classroom.
“You’re gonna have to take your blows to push back against enforced and mandatory idol worship, but that’s a lot easier battle than losing control of your own soul,” Peterson said of teachers pushing back against that agenda.
Despite attempts by activists and an Ottawa city councillor to cancel the event, it went ahead peacefully and without protest. Thousands of people descended onto the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa’s Kanata suburb to listen to Peterson, which began with a live musical performance by his son Julian and a speech by his wife Tammy.
“Bigots and misogynists as far as the eye can see,” Peterson joked as he looked at the audience of thousands who assembled to hear him speak.
While the formal portion of the event focused on a talk Peterson gave on the Book of Exodus, the author also spoke about assisted suicide during the question and answer period.
Peterson said that he had faced a lot of pain in the last few years and disclosed that there were moments where, in his words, he would have pressed a red button to end his life and make the suffering go away. He stressed though that ultimately he doesn’t trust the government to be involved in the issue.
“I don’t trust the people who can’t give you a passport in two weeks to decide whether or not grandma gets to live,” Peterson added.
Prior to Petetson’s event taking place, progressive activists called for Peterson’s event to be cancelled. They claimed the popular psychologist touts “toxic, and often violent, rhetoric”, and also took issue with his support of the Freedom Convoy.
Calls to cancel Peterson were echoed by left-wing Ottawa city councillor Ariel Troster, who serves as the “Council Liaison for Women, Gender Equity and 2SLGBTQ+ Affairs”. Troster said that Peterson’s supposed “hateful rhetoric” has no place in Ottawa.
However, despite the noise online and in the legacy media, no protestors were seen outside the venue Monday night.
Peterson addressed the lack of protestors at the start of his talk. “Thirty-six organizations and not one protestor,” he said, adding that “they couldn’t scrounge up one person to wave a placard.”
While there were no protestors present at the event, progressives continued to complain online about Peterson’s presence in the city.
Kanata-Carleton Liberal MP Jenna Sudds claimed that Peterson was “spreading far-right, misogynistic rhetoric” at his talk and called out Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre for defending Peterson.
The next Canadian stops on Peterson’s Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life tour are London on Tuesday and Hamilton on Wednesday.
