September 2011
CALGARY: The Justice Centre for Constitutional
Freedoms (JCCF) today announced that members of Campus Pro-Life at the
University of Calgary have gone to court to assert their campus free speech
rights.
JCCF President John Carpay has defended the
University of Calgary students’ free speech rights since 2007,
and also defends the campus free speech rights of students at other
universities.
The students and their lawyer will
be available for media comment at the Courthouse in downtown Calgary at 11:30
a.m. Wednesday April 13, 2011.
Seven students are Applicants in an Originating
Notice filed at the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench today. Their application for
judicial review asks the court to quash a University of Calgary decision that
the students are guilty of “non-academic misconduct.”
In May of 2010, eight students were found guilty
of “non-academic misconduct” for having set up a pro-life display on campus
while refusing to comply with the university’s demand that their
signs be set up in a circle facing inwards, such that people walking by could
not see the signs. This finding of guilt was upheld in January of 2011 by the
university’s Board of Governors, which rendered its decision without scheduling
a hearing to listen to the students’ appeal.
“The right to free expression
simply cannot exist if citizens enjoy a legal right not to be disturbed or
offended by speech – including images – that they do not wish to see. The
University of Calgary’s patronizing and paternalistic approach – trying to
decide on behalf of students what they can and cannot see – has no place in a
free society, especially not at a public university that is funded by Alberta
taxpayers,” stated John Carpay.
The group’s display has been held on the
University of Calgary grounds without incident eleven times since 2006, for two
consecutive days each of those eleven times. In 2009, the University charged
six students with trespassing, but the Crown Prosecutors’ Office stayed these
charges prior to trial, as the University of Calgary was not able to explain
what rule, policy, regulation or by-law the students had violated.
The U of C has no objection to other graphic
photos on campus. For example, posters on campus
from a pro-seatbelt group show a mutilated face that has gone through a
windshield; the caption states “Without a seatbelt, things can get real ugly.”
Gory, disturbing photos of Falun Gong members tortured by the Chinese government
are also tolerated on campus.
U of C President Dr. Elizabeth
Cannon has continued her predecessor’s policy of suppressing free speech on
campus. The U of C claims that nobody should be “forced” to look at disturbing
visual images, but this standard is not applied to photos of windshield-scarred
faces, or torture victims.
The U of C boasts an annual budget of $1.09
billion, of which 60% comes from taxpayers.
For further information, contact: John Carpay,
President, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, (403) 619-8014.
The Justice Centre for
Constitutional Freedoms (www.jccf.ca)
is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting
constitutional freedoms through education and litigation. The JCCF relies on
voluntary donations from Canadians to provide citizens with pro bono
legal representation in defence of free speech, and other constitutional
freedoms.
Justice Centre for Constitutional
Freedoms
#253, 7620 Elbow Drive SW
Calgary, Alberta, T2V 1K2
Phone: (403) 619-8014
Help us maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship by joining SAFS or making a donation.
