Is Free Speech Under Attack?
Canada’s universities are often viewed as a place for hearing new perspectives and considering new ideas.
But recent events have sparked a debate over the limits of free speech.
A battle played out in court over the University of Alberta’s handling of student-led anti-abortion demonstration.
The university did nothing to stop disruption of the signage, and required them to pay over $17,000 for security if they were to set up another similar display.
University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson has received backlash for frequently speaking out against Bill C-16. The legislation added gender expression and identity to the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Criminal Code provisions dealing with hate speech.
To Peterson the legislation infringes on freedom of speech.
Lindsey Shepard, a teaching assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University, was reprimanded by faculty after showing a video of Peterson’s critique of Bill C-16. Shepard was told she created an unsafe environment.
Protests broke out on campus on both sides of the issue, and Shepard has turned into a rallying figure with 30,000 Twitter followers.
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Drawing the line
Campuses have long been the centre of debate for society’s most pressing issues, and responsible speech is today’s hot topic of discussion.
Husoni Raymond is a second year St. Thomas University student, who sees dialogue on campus about what the limits of speech should be.
“A lot of our students are against hate speech and against students feeling excluded […] So generally I think free speech is kind of limited on our campus and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing,” he said.
Raymond said a candidate during the recent student union debate expressed concern about making the campus a safe space, and how that might limit free speech.
The standards on what views should be expressed becomes contentious once hate speech is involved.
David Hoffman is a UNB sociology professor and terrorism scholar. He recently conducted a number of research projects to examine far right extremism in Canada.
He said Atlantic Canada has seen the establishment of many new hate group over the last few years, part of a growing trend nationwide.
“Within the last 5-10 years in Canada we’ve seen an absolute explosion of hate groups and hate crimes associated with hate groups, but particularly far right hate groups,” Hoffman said.
White nationalism in Fredericton
The debate came to Atlantic Canada after white nationalist posters began appearing on buildings at the University of New Brunswick’s Fredericton campus. They were placed in the fall by a group known as the National Socialist Canadian Labour Revival Party.
Then in January the group placed recruitment posters on campus, which were removed by campus security.
UNB Classics and Ancient History professor Matthew Sears tweeted out a picture of the posters after he was made aware of them by a faculty of arts staff member.
This flyer is today all over my building at @UNB. The consequences of marginalizing indigenous peoples and other groups, in the name of "free speech," are real and hurt real people. Let's all stand against this cowardice and bigotry, and call out, publicly, everyone enabling it. pic.twitter.com/FCs66rswb0
— Matthew A. Sears (@matthewasears) January 16, 2018
Hoffman said society is witnessing a shift in how groups like the NSCLRP recruit and present themselves.
“It’s all about defence now. And the posters that were posted on UNB’s campus, perfect example,” he said. “It’s a narrative; white culture is under attack, there’s a white genocide going on right now, what it means to be a white Christian is in jeopardy now if we let these immigrants come in.”
Students STU Journalism approached on campus were reluctant to discuss the issue, but those who did said the posters have made them think differently about the UNB community.
Third year UNB student Leila McGinn said she was surprised to hear of the posters that had been placed on campus.
“Just with the political atmosphere that’s going on, maybe people feel they have more of a right to be spreading their beliefs,” she said.
Hate speech also found its way further up the hill in Fredericton. White nationalist posters were discovered on the second day of St. Thomas University’s Conference on Truth and Reconciliation.
There are active extremist group members in the city and province. The alt-right organization Storm Alliance held a small rally at Odell Park in the fall.
David Coon is the MLA for Fredericton South. He said it was a surprise to see these groups active in his riding.
“There’s always the odd individual, you know, who has hateful views, but normally it’s not organized in any way that is expressed publicly. And here we have something that suggests there’s a bit of organization going on actually to put those hateful views out where people can see them, and that’s unsettling.”
Who are these white supremacists?
STU Journalism reached out Sarah Villeneuve, a UNB student and member of the NSCLRP. She claimed responsibility for the poster campaign, and shared more insight on her organization’s controversial ideology.
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An ‘appalling’ decision by student press
The student newspaper at UNB’s Saint John campus, The Baron, stirred the pot — publishing content from Michael Thurlow, leader of the National Socialist Canadian Labour Revival Party.
It ran an unedited question and answer style interview along with a letter from Thurlow. The two articles included comments about Jews and false information about residential schools. They’ve been removed from the Baron’s website.
The Baron’s decision generated national news, and sparked a heated conversation around the limits of free speech in Canada.
Michael Camp is a former reporter with CBC News and a journalism professor at St. Thomas University. He teaches the course Media Ethics and the Law.
Camp said journalists try to keep the discussion of public views as wide as possible, but within limits. He said people often have the misconception that journalism is “value free”.
“I absolutely would not as a journalist publish any form of feedback that was blatantly racist or sexist,” Camp said.
He said The Baron made a bad decision, and should apologize to its readers for being taken advantage of by a hate group.
“It’s really appalling to me that a university publication, where you would expect some thought on this matter, would make this kind of decision,” Camp said.
The publication’s editor has been fired, and the current staff declined our request for an on camera interview.
In a statement, the editorial board apologized for “negligence and oversight” and promised to strengthen accountability.
Legal rights
Away from campus debates, the legal line is drawn under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada’s Criminal Code.
Section 2 of the Charter grants to everyone, among other things, freedom of conscience and religion, and freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media.
But these rights can be restricted. Section 1 of the Charter restricts the freedoms by making them subject “only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
And those limits include hate speech. Sections 318, 319 and 320 of Canada’s Criminal Code forbid hate propaganda.
The law states that two forms of hate speech are illegal. Speech that advocates genocide and speech that promotes hatred against an identifiable group which is likely to lead to a breach of the peace.
Exceptions to the law include opinion based on belief in a religious text.
The debate is a clash between two values. Opposition to hateful and offensive material, and the right to free speech.
The line between them is far from clear, spurring a debate that could shape this generation.
