In this episode, I discuss the need for a free speech policy at Canadian universities and colleges, and why it's important to have a policy that protects freedom of speech. Free speech is at odds with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
00:00:00.000We are at a critical point in North America where not only is free speech under attack on college and university campuses,
00:00:09.000but the very idea that free speech needs to be protected is not even a guarantee outside of academia.
00:00:16.000Standing up for and protecting free speech has never been more important,
00:00:20.000which is why universities and colleges for the first time in Canada are now being forced to draft and enforce a free speech policy.
00:00:28.000Now this comes about through a guideline that was pushed by Doug Ford, the Premier of Ontario,
00:00:34.000telling the province's publicly funded universities and colleges that as of January 1st, 2019,
00:00:40.000they must have a policy based on the University of Chicago principles for free expression,
00:00:46.000which in general terms are about protecting academic freedom,
00:00:50.000protecting the liberty for students and faculty to express themselves,
00:00:54.000and making sure that the schools that are adopting these principles are actually standing up for what is supposed to be at the core of being able to grow and foster understanding.
00:01:08.000So schools have now been forced to put their own policies in place.
00:01:12.000Now in some schools defense, this was already a priority.
00:01:15.000For other schools, they even now don't appear to have adopted what they're required by law to adopt.
00:01:22.000Ryerson University, for example, ignored two requests for comment I sent to its communications office asking them if they had adopted and implemented a free speech policy.
00:01:34.000Nothing is publicly available except for a draft policy that it doesn't appear has been formally adopted.
00:01:41.000Other schools have put policies forward that seem to couch free expression and freedom of speech in terms that suggest they may be only paying lip service to it.
00:01:54.000Wilfrid Laurier University, which is arguably the school that started the need to have a free speech policy in the first place with how it treated Lindsay Shepard, says the following in its policy.
00:02:04.000It describes Laurier as, quote, an institution that is deeply committed to free expression and to diversity, equity and inclusion.
00:02:15.000It says later on, Laurier recognizes that at times, free expression may harm and or further marginalize community members from visible and invisible minority groups, including but not limited to those from groups based on indigeneity, class, race, ethnicity, place of origin, religious creed, spiritual belief, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age and ability.
00:02:40.660So the implication there is that having free speech is somehow exclusionary, that free speech is something that marginalizes.
00:02:50.660The policy further says that the university is committed to providing access to services that support well-being and safety from physical harm.
00:03:00.660Now, this is part of its approach to free speech, as though if you ensure freedom of expression for students, you also need to make sure that students are not succumbing to physical injury.
00:03:10.660Because, you know, verbal barbs sometimes can be, you know, you just have to dodge them like bullets in Bosnia or something.
00:03:16.660The school also says it has the right to reasonably manage the time, place and manner of expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of its community or impinge upon the physical safety of its members.
00:03:30.660So free speech, yes, but only on our terms when we say where and how and when, which sounds exactly like the problems that led to where we are now, which is schools putting up so many barriers so that free speech isn't really all that free.
00:03:45.660Now, let's take a look at the school that I went to, Western University in London, Ontario, which traditionally has been relatively solid on the free speech issue.
00:03:54.660I helped put together a speaking tour back in 2010 involving Ann Coulter.
00:03:59.660Jordan Peterson spoke on the campus of Western a year or two ago without issue.
00:04:03.660But even then, the policy opens the door to some issues in the future.
00:04:07.660Quote, the university recognizes that the legitimate exercise of free expression has the potential to shock, anger, intimidate, exclude, and contribute to the marginalization of university community members.
00:04:21.660It can also make it difficult for some people or groups to exercise their own freedom of expression.
00:04:27.660Again, an implication here that free speech is at odds with diversity, equity, and inclusion, as though telling someone you have the right to speak your mind is exclusive of someone else.
00:04:48.660The whole point of free speech is that it is inclusive. It's the ultimate equalizer.
00:04:52.660If you have free speech, anyone can express their views, debate them, discuss them, and ultimately we find out where the truth lies in any situation.
00:05:01.660It's not exclusive. It's not exclusive. It's the opposite.
00:05:04.660And like Laurier, Western says it's committed to providing a supportive environment, including counseling and health services for those who are negatively affected by the exercise of free expression.
00:05:16.660So they're going one step further than Laurier did, saying in unequivocal terms, we know that free expression is going to cause you some harm.
00:05:24.660We're going to give you the help you need to get through hearing a controversial idea.
00:05:28.660And if you take a little bit of a drive east from Western University, you find the University of Guelph, which is not as overzealous in its policy as, say, Laurier and Western are, but still falls victim to that false dichotomy that free speech and diversity are at odds with one another.
00:05:45.660The school says, quote, a balance must be struck among the principles of free inquiry, a commitment to diversity and inclusion, and the protection of human rights.
00:05:56.660Last that I checked, free speech was a fundamental human right.
00:06:00.660But now we have the belief being propagated that free speech is an affront to human rights, that someone having the right to free expression actually takes away the human rights of others.
00:06:13.660We have a very critical point in academia right now where the elites at these institutions and the students that are running much of the student experience at these institutions genuinely believe free speech to not be a right, but to be an affront to rights.
00:06:30.660And this is why the policy that Doug Ford's government put in is such an important one.
00:06:34.660If schools don't mandate that free speech must be enforced, publicly funded schools, they may lose that public funding.
00:06:41.660And I'm taking a wait and see approach on how that enforcement will take hold.
00:06:46.660But suffice it to say, these very policies prove why a policy is important in the first place.
00:06:52.660Andrew Scheer has said that he would like to take what Doug Ford has done in Ontario and put it to the national level.
00:06:58.660Universities across Canada receive a great deal in the way of federal funds, and they should have that funding stripped if they don't protect free speech.
00:07:06.660And I would like to see the Ontario model become a model for across the country.
00:07:12.660It's never been more important to stand up for free speech because free speech has never been so imperiled in Canadian bureaucracy as it is now.
00:07:21.660And that's why True North is such a valuable voice in this.
00:07:25.660Quite frankly, if we don't stand up for free speech, we know the mainstream media and the academic elites and those in government right now aren't going to.
00:07:33.660We need your support to do this, though.