UBC event cancelled, debate continues about free expression on campus
Credit to Author: Jennifer Saltman| Date: Fri, 03 Jan 2020 01:06:09 +0000
The University of B.C. could face a lawsuit from a free speech club after cancelling a potentially controversial speaking event at the end of January, citing “safety and security.”
However, a free expression expert said he believes the school isn’t stifling free speech, as The Free Speech Club is alleging, and doesn’t have a duty to host an event if it isn’t part of the university’s academic mission.
“The speaker has every freedom of expression right to express his views. This group of students has every freedom of expression right to find a place to hold an event to let him express his views. It’s just the university doesn’t have an obligation to be that place,” said James Turk, director of Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression.
Andy Ngo, editor at large for the right-wing news site Post Millennial, was scheduled to deliver a talk called “Understanding Antifa (Anti-fascist) Violence,” at UBC’s Robson Square campus on Jan. 29.
The Free Speech Club, which organized the event, had paid the booking deposit and the talk was confirmed in November. However, the club was notified on Dec. 20 that the event was cancelled.
Ron Holton, the university’s chief risk officer, said in an emailed statement that campus safety and security is the primary concern, and the school does risk assessments to evaluate the impact that event bookings could have on the campus community.
“The assessment in this case determined the safety and security of UBC students, faculty, staff and infrastructure was at risk if the event was allowed to proceed,” he said, noting the event was cancelled “in order to safeguard the safety and security of our community.”
No specific safety concern was cited.
“What they’re doing is pretty anti-Charter (of Rights and Freedoms), and as a publicly funded institution, they can’t really do what they’re doing, especially given the political nature of it,” said club director Angelo Isidorou. “What I’m hoping is that they rescind their cancellation. If they don’t, we will have to pursue legal action.”
The club is represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which issued a letter to UBC president Santa Ono on Dec. 31, asking that the event be reinstated. The centre gave the university until Jan. 10 to respond.
In the letter to Ono, lawyer Marty Moore called the university’s decision “unreasonable.”
“It is an alarming betrayal of the foundational pillar of higher education — the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. Furthermore, it signals automatic acquiescence to the ‘heckler’s veto,’ which will embolden threats from those who oppose the very notion of free expression,” Moore wrote.
B.C. Civil Liberties Association staff counsel, policy, Latoya Farrell agreed that regulating freedom of expression on a university campus can have a chilling effect.
“That’s always tough when you’re balancing free speech with safety. The problem on a university campus is that imposing burdens and obstacles like cancelling events based on anticipated hostility kind of empowers suppression of controversial speech,” Farrell said.
Turk said, however, that if the event or speaker is not related to the school’s academic mission and it’s not an issue of academic freedom — which is separate, but tied to freedom of expression — the university is not obligated to take on security costs or make its space available.
The Free Speech Club is not funded by the school’s Alma Mater Society and is considered independent of the university. Isidorou described the club as a private group mostly made up of UBC students and “focused primarily on events and academic lectures.”
Some have accused the club of leaning far right in its views, but Isidorou said while roughly two-thirds of their speakers and events have been conservative or right-leaning — the club has hosted Jordan Peterson five times — they have booked people from across the political spectrum, including a number of UBC professors.
“It’s just whenever we host a right winger, it turns into this huge volcano,” he said.
While they have had to fork over extra money for security at past events, including a talk by American conservative pundit Ben Shapiro, Isidorou said they have not had any cancelled at public venues. However, one event at a private venue was cancelled, and their events are often the subject of protests, Isidorou said.
He said he hopes a precedent is set in this case that makes it easier to organize events on campus that could spark debate or controversy.
The university’s policies came under scrutiny last summer when it hosted an event with Jenn Smith, who has campaigned against the use of the sexual orientation and gender identity, or SOGI, resources in B.C. schools. The program is designed to promote a more inclusive environment for queer students.
Smith, who is transgender but uses masculine pronouns, has said he doesn’t promote hate. His events are hosted by the Canadian Christian Lobby.
Similar talks were cancelled at Douglas College and Trinity Western University, but the university defended its decision to hold the talk, citing its “commitment to freedom of expression.”
The debate about free expression hit Simon Fraser University this fall, after a faculty member booked an event at its downtown Vancouver campus called “How media bias shapes the gender debate.” The event was criticized because it featured writer Meghan Murphy, who espouses anti-transgender views.
Although university provost John Driver said in a statement that while the school didn’t endorse the views expressed, it supported the right of faculty and other SFU community members to engage in free speech within the limits of the law.
In the end, the SFU event was cancelled by the sponsor “for security reasons” and relocated.
Earlier in the year, a speaking event with Murphy at the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library drew protesters and prompted the Vancouver Pride Society to ban the library from entering the 2019 pride parade.
The library’s policy states that it “will not restrict freedom of expression beyond the limits prescribed by Canadian law,” even if those who use the library’s spaces express ideas that are contrary to the library’s vision and values.