Mahdis Habibinia | Executive Editor (Online)
Dylan Stoll | Copy Editor
Featured Image: Many students believe York is open to different ideas and dissenting opinions. | Courtesy of Unsplash
Freedom of speech has, and always will be, a topic of debate amongst those who are given the power to enact policies over it. To state it in its clearest form, free speech is defined as a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or sanction. Essentially, free speech enables the voice of the people to be heard.
In regards to free speech on campus, where young, opinion-forming individuals congregate en-masse, the idea is of great importance and should not be taken lightly.
Towards the end of the summer, recently-elected Ontario Premier Doug Ford gave post-secondary schools an ultimatum: develop stronger free speech policies or face budget cuts.
As for the students who decide not to comply with these policies, they are to undergo the disciplinary measures already in place at a given campus.
The policy will not only protect free speech but ensure that hate speech, discrimination and other illegal forms of speech are not allowed on campus.
To monitor compliance, colleges and universities must report annually on their progress to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) starting in September 2019.
The policies that post- secondary schools are to compile must include a definition of the freedom of speech, and comply with the principles based on the
University of Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression. The latter states: that colleges and universities are places for open and free discussion; that institutions should not prevent students from expressing their disagreement with any ideas or with sentiments they find offensive; and that post- secondary school members cannot obstruct this freedom to share their views.
Alongside these principles, and what is the most important, is speech that violates the law will not allowed. This includes libel, slander, obscenity, pornography, sedition, incitement, fighting words, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, the right to be forgotten, public security, and perjury.
President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, Danny Chang, said the organization will work to ensure students have a voice during the creation of free speech policies across the province.
One such student, Priya Ramdial, says: “Free speech is good for democracy, for people to express their opinions and for others to hear them and to be able to express themselves. If you don’t have a platform where you can do that, then things just go unsaid.”
Ontario universities and colleges have until January 1, 2019 to develop, apply, and adhere to stronger free speech policies, which experts said were focused on pleasing a portion of the Tory base that was outraged when some speakers and professors were reprimanded for their conservative views.
“I think all universities should have that free speech policy implemented because we go to university to further our education, form opinions, and make a difference in society, so if our university isn’t even allowing us to express our opinions I wouldn’t want to support that institution,” Ramdial continues.
Several Canadian campuses have seen incidents in which controversial speakers or professors have come under fire for their views. Recently, one of the most famous was the case of Lindsay Shepherd, a Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) teaching assistant who was scolded for showing a video of U of T Professor Jordan Peterson. Peterson is infamously known for his refusal to use gender-neutral pronouns and has become a figure of the free speech movement. This caused quite the commotion, as Shepherd was called in to a private meeting with her supervisor, the head of her academic program, and an acting manager from the university’s Diversity and Equity Office. In response to the reprimanding, Shepherd filed a lawsuit against the WLU alleging “harassment, intentional infliction of nervous shock, negligence, and constructive dismissal.” As did Peterson, for defamation.
But it would appear that social injustice breeds modern crusaders. Since her ordeal, Shepherd’s activism has only strengthened. She has been interviewed by a variety of news outlets, including CBC News, as well as appeared on YouTube channels such as the Dave Rubin Report and Louder with Crowder. She also founded the Laurier Society for Open Inquiry at WLU, and in May of the same year, received the 2018 Harry Weldon Canadian Values Award from Canadians for Accountability.
Vannessa Scato, a fourth-year Psychology student, feels that even contentious ideas like Peterson’s need to be expressed. “There’s obviously going to be some controversy, but everyone just has to deal with it.”
Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo, said free speech on campus has become a far-right issue by virtue of the fact that most of the controversies have involved people with conservative views. For example, in April, a Go Fund Me campaign was started against the appearance of Faith Goldy, a white nationalist who was given event space to rent by the University of Waterloo. In a triumphant show of defiance, the campaign managed to raise over $12,000 for scholarships towards underrepresented students.
But who invited the far-right activist in the first place? The same Lindsay Shepherd, through her organization, the Laurier Society for Open Inquiry, as if to prove to the world that all forms of free-speech would be accepted.
According to Ford: “Colleges and universities should be places where students exchange different ideas and opinions in open and respectful debate. Our government made a commitment to the people of Ontario to protect free speech on campuses. Promise made, promise kept.”
Whether or not these ideas are controversial, the Ontario government’s intentions are to empower the student voice and promise to fight censorship.
Implementing these policies is merely the first step, so how do students feel about universities’ potentials in achieving such a utopian environment? And more importantly, does York University not already embody the sacred freedom of speech?
First off, there are fears—and rightly so—that the Progressive Conservative government’s intentions might blur the line between free speech and hate speech.
Chris Glover, the NDP colleges and universities critic, said the Opposition will be watching the policy development process.
“Ontarians are concerned that Doug Ford’s decree regarding so-called ‘free speech’ rules on campus may parallel the American version of the campus free-speech movement, which opens the door for groups to spew hate on the campuses of post-secondary institutions,” he said in a statement. “We want to ensure that campuses are safe, welcoming spaces for all—including those who are women, racialized individuals, and those who are LGBTQ+,” Glover says.
The Free Speech Movement was a year long protest that began in 1964 on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. It was the first American large-scale act of civil disobedience on campus to occur throughout the 60’s. Protesters demanded that the university administration lift the ban on political activism and to acknowledge that students, like any other citizen, have a right to speak their mind and to be taught ideas that may be controversial. The movement was far-reaching at the time, starting a nation-wide renaissance of student activism and involvement. It affected not only university free-speech, but also the Vietnam war, which was a topic of hot debate at the time.
“Teaching faculty should not be concerned because usually students tend to shy away from voicing their opinion in class—and this will only allow them to have a stronger, more meaningful connection in their lectures halls,” says Natasha Jayaratnam, a third-year law and society student.
Jayaratnam further explains that if you can practice debate and free speech in a learning environment, you can test the waters safely, as opposed to pursuing a career later and publicly offending the community and individual.
York as a community has provided students with an atmosphere where they can speak their mind in class. Jayaratnam says that she can openly talk to her professors. “I’ve never had a problem with that. It helps you understand the topic you’re learning.”
“York is a very diverse campus, and has a lot of international students. We accept a lot of cultures. There are open-ended conversations,” she continues.
Despite Ford’s ultimatum, the students of York have already been hard at work in regards to free speech. Students in Support of Free Speech York U (SSFSYU) is an organization dedicated to keeping York a university where free-speech can flourish. Located in room 333 of the New Student Center, the organization, as stated on their website, hopes to “provide a platform upon which individuals of differing political affiliation can discuss their views civilly with others while learning about new topics and engaging in critical thinking.
“Additionally, SSFSYU will diplomatically fight for the rights of students whose voices are being silenced. We are a non-partisan group that will actively promote the presence of discussion among students, as well as introduce new ideas to the student body through speaker panels, film screening, and other media outlets.”
During a time of great change in regards to race, expression and sexuality, freedom of speech should be at the forefront of our minds. It is the means by which we engage in the exchange of ideas, but if careful measures are not taken, these ideas can become aggressive, offensive, and even dangerous. The rules and policies of free speech allow us as citizens of a democracy to speak freely, but within the guidelines of respectable conversation.
They allow us to speak to our schools, our communities, and to our government in a way that can be legitimately heard, a freedom that we, at times, take for granted. This is why free speech policy must be maintained and fortified as time passes; it can degrade, fester and become antiquated if forgotten. As such, an update to post-secondary free speech policy should be welcomed, with open arms.
The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities could not be reached at the time of publishing for comment.
