Mayor John Tory (open John Tory's policard) added his voice Monday night to a growing chorus of opposition to anti-feminist blogger Daryush Valizedeh, a.k.a. Roosh V., who plans to speak in Toronto at an Aug. 15 event.

Tory tweeted late in the day that Roosh “and his hate speech have no place in our city and should have no platform here.” He called on those hosting the tour to “do the right thing — cancel this show,” and added: “While free speech is the law in this country, promoting violence against women is wrong.”

Councillor Norm Kelly (open Norm Kelly's policard) had led the charge earlier in the day, asking Toronto venues not to let Roosh V. use their spaces for his event.

“Urging all venue locations in Toronto to deny @rooshv the opportunity to use their space,” Kelly tweeted on Monday. “He and his views are not welcome in Toronto.”

“@rooshv's 'take' on life is worthless garbage masquerading as provocative insight,” he said in another post about three hours later.

Valizadeh, who recently got into an intense confrontation with a group of women and men in Montreal, is already planning his “battle of Toronto.”

The city is the last stop on his speaking tour on “self-improvement for men” and “the problems that Western men face.”

Valizadeh, who runs the controversial website Return of Kings, has argued on his own blog, among many other anti-feminist messages, that the incidence of rape could be reduced if the act was made legal on private property.

MPPs Tracy McCharles and Cheri DiNovo also expressed their opposition. “Man calling for legalization of rape to speak in TO,” DiNovo wrote, asking Tory to publicly denounce Roosh V., just as Mayor Denis Coderre of Montreal did on Saturday. He did so later in the day.

Much to the dismay of more than 40,000 people who signed a petition to have Valizadeh stopped at the border, on the grounds that he would be inciting hatred at his events, he successfully entered the country last week.

His Montreal visit wasn’t without bumps, however — in a video posted to YouTube on Saturday night, two women are seen throwing their drinks at him and swearing as a small crowd of people surrounds them.

A group of people then follows him, screaming and cursing, until he is escorted inside a building and the door is shut.

“I expect much of the same treatment” in Toronto, he writes in a post on his forum, instructing his supporters to monitor social media and infiltrate organizing groups, calling his talk in Montreal a “monumental victory.”

Although Valizadeh posted a celebratory video in which he proudly speaks about the success of the Montreal event and cheers are heard in the background, questions are being raised about whether the event even happened.

After Valizadeh’s original venue backed out, he claimed to have found a new one just in time for Saturday. A poster on his forum, however, wrote, “it’s such a shame that they had to cancel the speech.”

The poster, who was apparently in attendance, said 50 or 60 people had come to hear the talk, but a hotel administrator told Valizadeh at the last minute that the it could not continue, and “Roosh was really bummed about it.”

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About 100 people, inspired by the petition, attended a Montreal rally against rape culture.

The venue for Valizadeh’s event in Toronto has not been disclosed, but a similar demonstration is planned for noon Saturday at Queen’s Park.

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