A speech I was supposed to deliver in April will be broadcast online later this year.

It’s Thanksgiving Day, and Canada is celebrating. In the midst of economic anxiety and medical uncertainty, we still have plenty to be grateful for. Normally, my husband cooks turkey and trimmings for 20+ people. But here in Ontario we appear to be on the cusp of a second COVID wave, so our premier pleaded with us to keep this year’s celebrations small.

I’ve spent the past week honing & practicing a 40-minute speech that will be filmed in a few days. Friends of Science, who kindly invited me to address their annual event in April, is doing what we must all do at this time. They’re adapting. Because their event was cancelled due to COVID, my speech is going to filmed, then broadcast over the web sometime later this year, after which I will be available live and online, for a lengthy Q&A session.

Here’s the title and synopsis:

Climate Activism:
Undermining Free Speech, Free Thought, and Free Choice

There’s a climate problem, all right. A climate of intolerance, where dissent is not permitted. Climate activists insist their point-of view is the only one that is acceptable, the only one that is respectable, and the only one that deserves to be heard.

It turns out the tempo of the speech is now quite different. The original plan would have had me standing at a podium, a laptop in front of me, a clicker in my hand, referring to powerpoint slides on a gigantic screen. Hundreds of people would have been right there, in the audience. At a leisurely pace, I would have spent a lot of time looking at my slides, in addition to evaluating audience reaction as we went along, explaining in more depth whenever people started looking puzzled.

Now I’ll be sitting in a chair, staring directly into a camera, and talking. And talking. For about 40 minutes. This means my script is now significantly longer – while my slides will be fewer in number.

Wish me luck. We’re giving this a whirl, and the topic is super important.

Since this will now be an online event, those of you outside of Canada will have an opportunity to take part. More info coming soon.

Big Picture News, Informed Analysis

Giving a Speech and Giving Thanks