TORONTO — Controversial former British MP George Galloway’s Canadian speaking tour is causing controversy all over the country.

York University students protest George Galloway’s speaking engagement at the university on Nov. 16.

Avram Heisler, a third-year York student who is on Hillel at York’s board, estimated 250 to 300 people came out to protest.

“I don’t really oppose Galloway speaking in general, he has the right to speak,” Heisler said. “It’s more that he raises funds for a terrorist organization that I have a problem with.”

Hillel of Greater Toronto, meanwhile, is demanding funds spent by the York Federation of Students (YFS) to bring Galloway to campus be refunded to students.

“[Galloway is] not a speaker who speaks for most of the university,” Heisler added. “For the YFS to spend [student’s] money is wrong.”

Krisna Saravanamuttu, YFS president, told Excalibur, the York University newspaper, that they did not make any financial contribution to bring Galloway to York. He did, however, say YFS would cover security-related expenses.

At the York lecture, Galloway insisted he never supported Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the Canadian government.

“I have been asked why I have been dealing with Hamas,” Galloway said.

“I have news for the people in Ottawa: everybody else in the world is already talking to Hamas… If you want to resolve a conflict, you have to talk to the people who are engaged in the conflict.”

Michael Brown, who is a professor at York University, said he wishes Galloway had not spoken at York, but feels York is unfairly receiving a lot of excess attention because of it.

“I’m sorry Galloway was on campus,” he said. “I would have been much happier if he wasn’t.

“[However], he is going to other universities as well and no one’s making a fuss about that… York has been very good to Jewish students and the community.”

Galloway’s next stop, in Montreal on Nov. 17, saw him challenge Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (who was responsible for banning Galloway from entering Canada in 2009) to a boxing match. He also said the Harper government’s support of Israel was responsible for Canada’s failed UN security council bid.

“I don’t understand why this great country of Canada allowed itself to become effectively an embassy for the racist apartheid state of Israel,” he said.

Galloway’s 10-city tour has also taken him to Halifax, Hamilton, Calgary, Yellowknife, Edmonton and Vancouver.

His visit to Vancouver led to an online movement encouraging supporters of one of the tour’s sponsoring organizations to withdraw their endorsements.

Environmental activist David Suzuki;  Spencer Herbert, a Vancouver MLA; Dan Chambers, a United Church minister; the Green Party of Canada; and the Green Party of British Columbia have all asked to be removed as supporters of StopWar.

StopWar, which calls itself “Vancouver’s Labour/Community coalition of organizations united for justice and peace,” brought Galloway to Vancouver on Nov. 22. The organization has, according to its website, 171 (previously 174) endorsing members, some of which have either disbanded or do not exist.

Through the StopStopWar.ca Facebook page and the website stopstopwar.blog.ca, supporters of the project are contacting StopWar’s endorsers to inform them of Galloway’s support of Hamas and Hezbollah.

When contacted by the StopStopWar movement, Suzuki responded by saying he had never heard of StopWar.

“Thank you for the information. I quite honestly have never heard of this organization and have no idea whether or how my name became associated with it. I have taken your information and demanded the immediate removal of my name,” Suzuki’s response read.

Suzuki’s name was removed from the StopWar website on Nov. 18. However, Irene MacInnes, one of the StopWar founding members, told the National Post she requested and received Suzuki’s endorsement previous to the 2003 Iraq War.

Rael Katz is the president of Hillel’s Israel Awareness Club at the University of British Columbia and one of the founders of StopStopWar.

The purpose of StopStopWar, which Katz said “transpired very quickly,” (the first post on their website was on Nov. 15), “is to contact the organizations of individuals who have committed to StopWar.ca to claiming they are against war in Iraq.

“StopWar is abusing their privilege and abusing their membership base to bring in speakers that contradict the very essence of stopwar.ca,” Katz added.

Rev. Gary Paterson of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver, where Galloway spoke, told the National Post that he rented the space to StopWar not knowing Galloway was the speaker, and made it clear that the talk was not a church-sponsored function.

Galloway’s Canadian speaking tour wraps up with a visit to Winnipeg on Nov. 26 and one to Ottawa on Nov. 27.