The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has released their annual Campus Freedom Index—a report measuring the state of free speech at 60 different Canadian public universities.
This index came out following a policy from the Ontario government which mandates all publicly funded universities and colleges in the province to “develop, implement and comply with a free speech policy that meets a minimum standard prescribed by the government and based on best practices from around the world,” according to the government’s press release last month.
The policy must also ensure that “hate speech, discrimination and other illegal forms of speech are not allowed on campus.”
Colleges and universities will have to report annually on their progress to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), and those who do not comply with the free speech policy may see reductions in grant funding.
All universities and colleges within Ontario will have until January 1, 2019 to implement their policy.
The JCCF grades schools based on a four-part grading system: university policies, university practices, student union policies, and student union practices, according to their website.
Each university receives a letter grade—A, B, C, D, or F—and the grades are calculated based on their policies versus their practices.
Acadia University, Dalhousie University, Saint Paul University, University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, University of Victoria and Wilfrid Laurier University all earned letter grades of “F” in this year’s index for “failing to protect free expression on campus.”
This is the result of several incidences such as the investigation of Masuma Khan, a Dalhousie undergraduate student over comments made on social media, and the refusal to allow a pro-life student group to hold a tabling event at Guelph.
For Carleton University, the findings of this year’s index are not much different. The university received a D grade for their university policies and C’s for their university practices, student union policies, and student union practices.
Michael Kennedy, the director of communications and development at the JCCF, said that one of the reasons he believes that Canadian universities are doing so poorly in terms of free speech is because there is a widespread culture that believes any expression deemed offensive or uncomfortable should not be permitted.
He said the JCCF is glad a provincial government is finally “taking seriously the issue of free speech on campus.”
Since January 2017, the JCCF has been advocating for all provinces to enact legislation that supports reducing operational funding if universities fail to uphold freedom of speech, Kennedy said.
However, he added the policy is imperfect, stating that it needs to be more specific and address the issue of security fees. Security fees are costs arising from issues when controversial speakers are invited and students then threaten violence or disrupt the event which causes the organizers—students—to get charged thousands of dollars because of security.
“There’s a lot missing from the Ford government’s policy, but at the same time, it’s the first time a provincial government is doing anything to protect free speech on campuses,” Kennedy added.
Moiz Ali Qaderi, a third-year political science student at Carleton, said Ford’s policy is a great step because it allows students to have the space to raise their concerns.
“All students have an entitlement to freedom of speech across campus,” he said. “If we aren’t given access to that freedom, how can we create difference?”
Angela Ristova, a second-year criminology student at Carleton, disagrees with Ali Qaderi.
She said the policy is “defending controversial and otherwise problematic speakers and their opinions, as opposed to promoting intellectual debate and conversations regarding politics.”
Ristova she said the only reason Ford is enforcing a funding cut to non-compliers is because he knew the policy would be met with criticism and backlash.
“The issue with ‘I’m entitled to my opinion’ is that it’s used to shelter discriminatory beliefs that shouldn’t exist in the first place,” she said.
Photo by Lauren Hicks
