Valerie Smith

Who is Valerie Smith?

Valerie Smith is a left wing social activist who lobbies against violent pornography, violent rap music, and other allegedly misogynist content in Canadian media. She is best known for trying to prevent Eminem from entering Canada for a concert in October 2000 because of his misogynist lyrics, a move supported by then Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty, and Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Michael Bryant, Attorney General critic. She has also lobbied to have the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission use existing legislation that she believed should censor Howard Stern. She is the author of the Action Agenda: A Strategic Blueprint for Reducing Exposure to Media Violence in Canada, a report funded and published by the Ontario Office for Victims of Crime, an agency of the Ministry of the Attorney General. Smith operates the Free Radical web site to provide information on violent media and strategies to combat it.