Carleton has been ranked lowest of 45 Canadian universities for support of freedom of expression by the Campus Freedom Index (CFI) produced by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF).
The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) received relatively high grades this year, a shift from the last two years when the association received the lowest grades possible from the JCCF.
The JCCF is a registered Canadian charity.
The foundation is non-partisan and independent, according to the preamble of their CFI reports.
Since their Canada Revenue Agency registration, the foundation has claimed no government contributions and no spending on political activities, excepting $500 in 2012, the last year for which filings are currently available. The agency allows political spending for charities if it is non-partisan.
JCCF president John Carpay said the money was spent on an online petition for freedom of expression.
Carpay has been JCCF president since the centre was created in 2010.
He was a Wildrose candidate in the 2012 Alberta provincial elections.
In the 2013 CFI’s five-tier letter scale from ‘A’ to ‘F’, Carleton received a ‘D’ in their policies and an ‘F’ in practices, while the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) received a ‘C’ in policies and an ‘A’ in practices.
“[The CFI is a] report card on how well universities and student unions are doing in terms of fulfilling their mission in upholding campus free speech rights,” Carpay said.
In 2011 CUSA received bad grades for being in support of a woman’s right to choose her options in the case of pregnancy, and denying benefits to clubs and groups against that position, according to the 2011 CFI.
CUSA also received poor grades for discouraging conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation from speaking on campus, while also discouraging the Ku Klux Klan and the White Aryan Resistance. According to the 2011 CFI, CUSA thereby equated the organizations.
CUSA received poor grades for the same reasons in 2012.
The university received poor grades in 2011 and 2012 for charging five members of anti-abortion group Carleton Lifeline in 2010. They were charged for trespassing after refusing to remove a display comparing abortion to genocide from the quad.
It was “pure censorship based on the content of their expression,” Carpay said.
CUSA, constitutionally pro-choice in 2010, revoked Lifeline’s club status and funding Nov. 11, 2010.
A change in CUSA’s discrimination policy Dec. 12, 2012 allowed Lifeline to re-certify as a campus club—which they currently are, according to CUSA’s list of clubs and societies.
Carpay said CUSA has eliminated ideological restrictions that discriminated against different viewpoints.
He said the university’s low ranking again this year is due in part to what the JCCF feels is the university’s lack of a clear statement providing the necessary support to maintain academic freedom and freedom of expression.
He said anti-disruption policies allow students to obstruct the speech of others with whom they disagree.
Carleton’s anti-discrimination policies lack protection for “unpopular, controversial, or politically incorrect speech,” Carpay said.
“[Free speech is] something that matters and needs to be measured and that’s why we came up with grading criteria and analysis in our report card. So we could measure it and measure progress,” Carpay said.
