September 2013
News Release
September 24, 2013
New Report: 51% of Canadian
universities fail to uphold free expression rights on campus
OTTAWA: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF.ca) today released
the 2013 Campus Freedom Index, a report which measures the state of free
speech at 45 Canadian public universities.
Using a five-tier letter scale—A, B, C, D and F—the Campus Freedom Index
grades universities and student unions on their stated policies (what they say)
and their practices (what they do). Each university receives four letter grades
for each of university policies, university practices, student union policies,
and student union practices.
With 180 letter grades awarded to 45 campuses, Canada’s universities and student
unions receive only six ‘A’ grades. Conversely, and troublingly, ‘F’ grades were
earned 32 times: 13 by universities and 19 by student unions. The Campus
Freedom Index also assigns 19 B’s, 80 C’s and 43 D’s.
In
total, 23 campuses earned at least one ‘F’. Put another way, this means that
more than half of the 45 universities studied—51%—have engaged in the censorship
of student expression on campus, and have thus failed in their duty to protect
free expression rights.
Taking an average of universities’ policies and practices, the Campus Freedom
Index names Carleton University and the University of Ottawa as the worst
universities in Canada for free expression. Both Carleton and Ottawa have
actively censored student speech, earning D’s for their policies and F’s for
their practices. McGill University and York University do only slightly better,
each earning a ‘D’ average.
Three student unions have the dubious distinction of earning straight F’s.
The Lakehead University Students’ Union (LUSU), the University of Victoria
Students’ Society (UVSS) and the York Federation of Students (YFS)—receive ‘F’
grades for restricting campus free speech through both their policies as
well as their practices. These three are the worst student unions in
Canada when it comes to campus free speech.
Seven student unions tied as the second-worst student unions in the country,
namely, Brandon University Students’ Union, the Students Society of McGill
University, the Memorial University of Newfoundland Students’ Union, Queen’s
University’s Alma Mater Society, the Ryerson Students’ Union, the University of
Calgary Students’ Union, and the University of Manitoba Students’ Union. These
seven student unions earned one ‘F’ grade and one ‘D’ grade—only slightly better
than the worst three.
Fortunately, some universities are doing a good job of living up to their
missions of respecting academic freedom, and fostering the debate of
controversial ideas. Acadia University, the Memorial University of Newfoundland,
Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia
and the University of Regina tie as the best universities in the country. All
six of these universities earned a ‘B’ average. No university, nor student
union, earns an ‘A’ average in the Campus Freedom Index.
When it comes to the policies and practices of student unions, the best in
Canada are the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the
University of King’s College Students’ Union (KSU). Both earned a ‘B’ when
averaging grades awarded for policies and practices. CUSA is one of only two
student unions in the country to earn at least one ‘A’ in the Campus Freedom
Index, after having earned “straight F’s” in the 2012 edition. CUSA’s
transformation from one of the worst student unions to one of the best is truly
commendable, and explained further in the 2013 Campus Freedom Index.
Saskatchewan and New Brunswick rank as the best provinces for campus free
speech. In both provinces, none of the institutions surveyed received an ‘F’
grade. By contrast, the worst provinces for campus free speech are Alberta,
Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. In these provinces, every
institution surveyed received at least one ‘F’ grade. Seventy-three percent of
Ontario universities likewise earn at least one ‘F’, as well as sixty-seven
percent of Manitoba universities.
JCCF looks forward to the day when every university, and every student union,
earns only A’s for their policies and practices. For more information, contact
the authors of the 2013 Campus Freedom Index.
John Carpay JCCF President: jcarpay@jccf.ca Michael Kennedy, JCCF Communications
and Development Coordinator: mkennedy@jccf.ca Justice Centre for Constitutional
Freedoms: www.jccf.ca
To
read the rest of the report go to: https://www.jccf.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/0924_JCCFNewsRelease.pdf
Help us maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship by joining SAFS or making a donation.
