On Wednesday, Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty said the federal government should try to stop Eminem from entering Canada because his lyrics promote violence against women.

He had asked federal immigration officials to look into the possibility that Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, could be blocked on the grounds that his music advocates violence against women.

But an immigration spokesman said officials wouldn’t be waiting for Mathers at the airport Thursday evening.

“If all people who made bad music were kept out of Canada we could have stopped disco,” said Derik Hodgson.

“If you listen to his lyrics or read them, they’re abhorrent. But having said that, if somebody’s seeking entry into Canada and they’re convicted of a crime, including hate crimes, we can deny them entry. He hasn’t been convicted of anything and that’s the bottom line.”

Mathers currently faces assault and weapons charges in the U.S.

The furor over the immensely popular rapper’s visit has drawn an international media bullseye over the city and has prompted comment from politicians and others.

“I hope we can get this guy off the stage and get him the hell out of Toronto,” flamboyant Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman said Thursday.

“Because we don’t need hate against women or hate against anybody. This is not entertainment. People of Toronto, be ashamed if you go – and you should not go.” Alan Borovoy of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, called Flaherty’s move to ban the rapper ” grandstanding.”

“This is a sad use of the office to try to create a constituency for censorship this way,” said Borovoy, general counsel for the pro-freedom of speech civil rights organization.

“If he really wanted to do something serious for women in our society, I think he ought to call the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, one of these groups who could give him a litany of measures that could be adopted in order to enhance the lives of women.”

On the federal campaign trail, Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day said he’s ” not strong on censorship.”

“But when it comes to somebody who, at least from what I hear, promotes things such as domestic violence, I don’t have a whole lot of time for that,” he said in Ottawa.

“It wouldn’t bother me and I certainly wouldn’t interfere at the federal level if the province of Ontario was to deny entry to someone like that.

Valerie Smith, an anti-violence advocate who wrote to the Toronto police hate-crimes unit with concerns about the rapper, said Mathers’ lyrics are anti-women. American gay rights groups have accused him of promoting hatred and violence against gays and lesbians.

“When I saw that he was coming here, I downloaded some of his lyics and that’s when I realized just how blatant he is in his attitude towards women,” Smith said Thursday.

She said whether or not Eminem was denied entry, she considers it a success that such publicity has been generated over his lyrics.

“Actually, I’m surprised it’s got this far,” she said.

She said she wants to highlight the fact that women are not considered an identifiable group under the Constitution and as such aren’t protected from hate crimes.

“We never get that sort of consideration, it’s one of the reasons why material like this can go so far,” she said.

“Read his lyrics and insert a racial insult for his gender insult: the prosecution rests, your honour.”

In the song Kill You, Eminem sings: ” Slut, you think I won’t choke no whore, till the vocal cords don’t work in her throat no more?”

Later, he raps: “I invented violence, you vile, venomous, volatile bitches.”

In another song entitled Kim, Mathers describes killing his wife and dumping her body in the trunk of a car while the couple’s daughter watches.

The tune has already caused Eminem trouble. He settled a $10-million US lawsuit with his estranged wife, Kim Mathers, over the song and agreed to give up physical custody of his five- year-old daughter.

Eminem has performed in Toronto at least twice in the past two years without any opposition.

His latest record, The Marshall Mathers LP, has sold at least seven million copies and is Canada’s seventh best-selling album this week.