TORONTO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Edward Snowden will be part of the annual World Affairs Conference (WAC), organized by Upper Canada College, by speaking to the crowd via a video chat.
Snowden is the famous whisleblower who revealed the NSA's massive spying program in 2013. He is currently in Russia under a temporary asylum, and he faces arrest if he returns to the United States. He claims no one was hurt or killed because of the information he leaked, and the U.S. government has not been able to provide evidence to refute that statement.
His talk at the WAC has caused some controversy in Canada. The talk was arranged by an Upper Canada College student named Conor Healy, and some in the community are upset he chose Snowden.
"Our goal is to expose the student delegates to issues that are globally significant to them," Healy told CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "Snowden is undoubtedly one of the foremost perspectives on one side of an essential debate about our relationship with the government as it relates to personal privacy," he said.
"I certainly support bringing provocative, controversial speakers to engage in debate with the students. However, I draw the line at criminals," someone wrote in an anonymous comment on the event's website.
The event Edward Snowden & I are doing tonight at Toronto's Upper Canada College will be live-streamed, 7:30 pm ET http://t.co/yXbEHvdE6C
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 2, 2015
