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'Pickup artist' could be barred from Canada like other controversial people

A YouTube screenshot of Daryush Valizadeh
A YouTube screenshot of Daryush Valizadeh

The Canada Border Services Agency is under public pressure to deny entry to self-styled pickup artist Daryush Valizadeh this week, with an online petition against his arrival reaching more than 17,000 signatures on Friday afternoon.

Roosh V, as he is known, is an American citizen who plans to hold two speeches in Montreal and Toronto on Aug. 8 and Aug. 15, respectively, to discuss his vision of the problems facing men in the modern world.

Critics have charged that Roosh V, who has advocated for the legalization of rape on private property, is a hateful misogynist.

The petition calls for him to be barred from the country under a section of the Criminal Code prohibiting gathering and organizing for the purpose of inciting hatred.

Canadian border agents can turn back anyone without Canadian citizenship, including permanent residents, for a number of reasons, including criminal history, health problems or security factors.

The agency, which couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, rarely gives reasons for its decisions, citing privacy laws. What that means is that border guards have wide discretion in determining who gets into the country.

If Roosh V is denied entry, he will be the latest in a string of controversial speakers who have been turned back at the Canadian border.

Yet some, like businesswoman and TV host Martha Stewart, turned back in 2005 for her criminal conviction for insider trading, are allowed to enter the country at a later date.

Terry Jones, Florida pastor and book-burner

Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who sparked international outrage and condemnation when he announced a plan to burn a Qur’an on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, was denied entry to Canada when he came to attend a free speech conference in October 2012.

Jones claimed the border guards told him that a 20-year-old fine from the German government for using the title “doctor” without earning it, despite Jones holding an honorary doctorate, was enough to bar him from the country.

The Westboro Baptist Church

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, which pickets the funerals of soldiers, celebrities and victims of high-profile crimes to spread their anti-gay, anti-abortion messages, were barred from the country in 2008 when they tried to cross at Niagara Falls. A separate group managed to cross the border in Manitoba, and picketed the funeral of Greyhound beheading victim Tim McLean.

Zakir Naik, Indian televangelist

Zakir Naik, an Indian Muslim televangelist who has called for the death penalty for homosexuals and those who abandon Islam, was denied entry to Canada in 2010 after being banned from the United Kingdom.

Naik, who runs a TV station in India, had a long list of controversial comments, including praising Osama bin Laden and suggesting Western women are more susceptible to rape because of their revealing clothing. Naik said he had been allowed into the country before without incident.

George Galloway, United Kingdom MP

George Galloway, a former member of the U.K. Parliament, was denied entry to Canada in 2009 because of his alleged support of Palestinian terrorist organization. Galloway is an outspoken defender of the Palestinian right to statehood and has been accused of anti-Semitism. Galloway was allowed to re-enter Canada in 2010.

Bill Ayers, former member of the Weather Underground

Bill Ayers, an education reformer and academic, was denied entry to Canada twice in 2009 and again in 2011 for his role as a co-founder of the Weather Underground, a violent protest group.

The Weather Underground began in 1969 as a rejection of the non-violent methods of the movement against the Vietnam War, and the group conducting a bombing campaign throughout the early 1970s aimed at government targets such as mailboxes and, in one case, a washroom at the U.S. Capitol building.

Ayers went on to a respected career working at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2011, Canadian officials cited a felony conviction as their reason for rejecting Ayers, yet he claimed he was never convicted of any felony crimes. Ayers said he had travelled to Canada many times before without incident.

Christine Roman-Lantzy, expert in pediatric visual impairment

Christine Roman-Lantky, an expert on visual impairment in children and the director of the Pediatric Vision Information and Evaluation Program at West Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh was denied entry in February 2015 because border agents said she could be taking employment away from Canadians.

Roman-Lantzy was on her way to Toronto to give a presentation on her work, which includes developing a framework for assessing and diagnosing children with cortical visual impairment. She has lectured around the world on the disease, which begins in the brain rather than the eyes.

She was also scheduled to meet with families of children who have the disease. Border agents did not accept her reasoning that, as a widely acknowledged expert on the subject and the author of the assessment framework used in treating cortical visual impairment, she was best placed to be speaking on the subject. Roman-Lantzy said this was the first time she had trouble at the border after giving many lectures in Canada over the years.