They should specifically ask (and provide funding for) a disabled advocate, and preferably an advocate with intellectual or developmental disabilities, to be present to give the rebuttal. That in itself is a strong refutation of Peter Singer's ableism.

Dear Tanya

 

Many thanks for all your work on this.

 

My view would be that, if they are to go ahead because of his role in the development of the animal rights movement, they should at the very least ensure they also have a speaker addressing his notable failure to take human rights as seriously as animal rights and, therefore, the inconsistencies/double standards within his stance.

 

Laura

 

On Sun, 10 Mar 2019 at 09:01, Angelo D. Marra GMAIL <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Tanya, you did a great political work. This is - to me - just another example of how Disability is perceived as marginal and not central issue in the "ordinary" arena. Where animals can be more right-holders then Humans and one movement has a narrow perspective..

Thanks

Angelo

Il 10/03/19 00:59, Roman, Leslie ha scritto:

Not exactly appeasing!

 

In other words, ‘We are sorry you folks took offense and we plan despite his disgusting ethical and political stances that you will fortive us”!

 

 

Tanya, did a lot of work, mobilized a ton of support and this will not be going away anytime soon.

 

Thank you for your work!

 

Leslie

 

From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tanya Titchkosky
Sent: Saturday, March 9, 2019 3:49 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Reply to international letter of inquiry RE: Peter Singer keynote at Dalhousie Law Conference

 

Hello,

Below please find the Animal Law Conference response to our letter sent 16/02/2019.  That email is followed by a copy of my introductory email and then a copy of our collective letter which had more than 60 people signing from around the globe (signatures are not included as people requested).

Below all that, you will find a copy of the  initial conference announcement. 

Sincerely,

Tanya Titchkosky

 

From: Animal Law Conference <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: March-09-19 2:05 PM
To: Tanya Titchkosky <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Reply to international letter of inquiry

 

Dear Dr. Titchkosky, Would you kindly circulate the following to your colleagues. Thank you.

 

***

 

To Dr. Titchkosky and co-signatories, 

 

We write to provide a brief explanation of our choice of Peter Singer as keynote speaker at the Canadian Animal Law Conference taking place in October 2019 at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University.

 

In short, Dr. Singer was chosen because of his instrumental role in advancing the field of animal rights. While we recognize the controversial nature of his writings outside the field of animal rights, we extended the invitation based on his authorship of Animal Liberation, which can be credited with spurring the modern animal rights movement.

 

The theme of our conference is “learning from the past, looking to the future,” and Dr. Singer is inextricably connected with the history of this movement. At the same time, we understand that the successful future of the animal rights movement depends on the support and allyship of others working toward social justice for all. To that end, it is certainly not our intention to offend, alienate, or turn away members of any social justice movement, including members of the disability rights community, and we regret any ill-feelings our choice of keynote has caused. Our conference, and the animal rights movement generally, is truly open to all voices and perspectives.

 

Sincerely, 

 

The organizers of the Canadian Animal Law Conference

 

 

16/02/2019

COVER EMAIL

Dear Animal Law Conference Organizers; Peter MacKinnon, Dalhousie University Interim President and Vice-Chancellor; and Teri Balser, Vice-President Academic and Provost,

 

Please find attached (and pasted below) a letter signed by 60+ scholars, artists and activists who would like to know your reasons for inviting Peter Singer to keynote your Animal Law conference in March (pasted below). The letter is not a legal argument; it is a representation of our shock and disgust and request for a justification for inviting Peter Singer. In my opinion, given Peter Singer’s reputation, I believe you, as major university in Canada, will need to develop some sort of response to what is sure to become an international concern.

 

Please acknowledge receipt of this.

 

Sincerely,

Tanya

 

 

Dr. Tanya Titchkosky, Professor, Disability Studies

Department of Social Justice Education, 12-236

Ontario institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto

Toronto, Canada

M5S 1V6

 

 

LETTER OF CONCERN SIGNED BY 60+

 

Feb 16^th, 2019

 

Emails: [log in to unmask] ; [log in to unmask] ; [log in to unmask]

Dear Animal Law Conference Organizers; Peter MacKinnon, Dalhousie University Interim President and Vice-Chancellor; and Teri Balser, Vice-President Academic and Provost,

 

We represent an international group of concerned disability studies scholars, artists, and activist some of whom are committed to animal rights. We noticed that your Animal Law Conference is hosting Peter Singer in October 2019 at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada.  We write to express our shock and disappointment.

 

Human/animal relations represent an important social justice issue but it is unjustifiable to pursue your interests by employing and featuring Peter Singer who has publicly argued for the death of children with disabilities and has argued for the general worthlessness of disabled people, doing so more than once.  You are choosing an absurd, not to mention offensive, way to garner respect for your interests. We cannot fathom why your animal law conference would publicly and willingly promote the degradation of disability life.

 

Please justify your decision to promote liberation by making adversaries of us. We do not think you should ignore the implications of your promotion of this particular keynote speaker. The signatures below represent individuals (and not institutions) who request that you respond to our concern.

 

Sincerely,

60+ Signatures, affiliations, and individual statements

 

 

 

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

Animal Justice is thrilled to announce the inaugural Canadian Animal Law

Conference! Co-hosted with the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie

University, the conference will take place from October 4 - 6, 2019, in

Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

Animal law has grown tremendously in Canada over the past decade, and it's

the right time for animal law leaders to gather, take stock of our

accomplishments, and consider the future. The conference will bring

together animal rights lawyers, scholars, advocates, and students to

reflect on lessons learned, and how to further advance protections for

animals.

 

The conference will feature a *special keynote address from Peter Singer*,

philosopher and author of the groundbreaking book *Animal Liberation. *

 

Submissions for the inaugural Canadian Animal Law Conference are invited

on topics relating to advocacy, litigation, legislation, policy, and our

legal and ethical relationship with non-human animals. To learn more about

submissions, please *visit the conference website.

<https://e-activist.com/ea-action/enclick?ea.url.id=1762513&ea.campaigner.email=YmuoT%2FVEnsXkhocwtIyRJkDLqKySp0jT&ea.campaigner.id=Kv8Q0I44kZezFWMrHGgntg==&ea_broadcast_target_id=0>*

 

 *LEARN MORE* <https://www.canadiananimallawconference.ca/>

 

 

 

 

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Laura 

 

Laura J Welti
Forum Manager
 

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