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The cancellation of Ann Coulter’s speech at the University of Ottawa was not a victory for her opponents, who celebrated shutting her event down last night; it is a victory for the organizers who paid for Coulter’s (non)appearance.

The organizers of Ms. Coulter’s Canadian tour have hit the public relations jackpot: Their tour is the lead story across America’s right-wing media establishment. All the money in the world could not buy advertising with the same level of impact they are receiving from the earned media stemming from the U of Ottawa cancellation.

The American conservative non-profit organization, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, is likely going to make a fortune as donations pour in from their American right-wing base – significantly more than the $10,000 or so dollars it cost them to bring Coulter to Ottawa. (In American politics, whipping up the right wing base always results in donations.)

Conservative activist Ezra Levant benefits from making a further mockery of Canada’s human rights commissions by pursuing a human-rights complaint on behalf of Ms. Coulter. (He has in the past referred to the “human rights racket” and has written a book critical of Canada’s human rights commissions.)

He also stands to make a fair amount of coin from his association with Ms. Coulter. This controversy positions him to embark on an American speaking tour talking about yesterday’s event, collecting a substantial speaking fee and selling his book to a new-found American audience.

Unlike the Fenians, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute is unlikely to quietly return to their side of the border after decisively defeating their Canadian opponents. Within conservative movements, CBLPI has developed a strong brand from this event. This brand – combined with the war-chest they’re in a position to be building from the Coulter cancellation – will enable them to form campus clubs at universities across Canada. These chapters could serve as front organizations to add Canadian universities to the right-wing speakers circuit.

The culture wars have come to Canada.