VANCOUVER — It appears as though comedian Ben Bankas will be able to perform at Nanaimo's Port Theatre on March 21 despite efforts from residents to bar him from the publicly-owned but independent venue.Instead of banning him from using the theatre, Nanaimo City Council instead supported a motion to send a letter to the facility asking it to "review its booking practices to ensure performances align with its stated core values of being accessible and inclusive." Councillors will also issue a statement reminding everyone they support marginalized communities."As ugly as their voices may be seen or heard, they have chosen to purchase tickets to listen to this obnoxious man," Mayor Leonard Krog said of those who will attend the performance. "I am not going to stand in their way and tell the Port Theatre how to run its operation any more than I would like someone to tell me what I could and couldn’t say when it’s short of hate speech."His sentiments were shared by Councillor Ben Geselbracht."The Port Theatre is a separate entity, and we can’t tell them to change the booking," he said. "We can’t censor it, there are legal constraints.".Geselbracht called the situation "very unfortunate," and noted that "what we can do is say that the content, this material isn’t aligned with the values and what the city is trying to promote around inclusivity, reconciliation."This is far from the first time Bankas has found himself embroiled in controversy over his brand of humour.In October, his show at the Grey Eagle Casino near Calgary was cancelled over backlash to a joke he'd made about residential schools."I just got back from Winnipeg ... It's like an indigenous zombie apocalypse," he said. "I was thinking it'd be nice if there's, you know, some sort of school we could send them to. Unfortunately, that ship has sailed. Say what you want about the residential schools, but you know, it's nice architecture ... I'm just saying it like those schools ... If you wanted to go to a residential school now, in 2025 it'd be like $40,000 a year. Those motherf*ckers got it for free!"Far from silence Bankas, the cancellation led him to sell out a number of shows at YukYuks a couple weeks later.
