April 2010
The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) is
representing students who are being prosecuted by the University of Calgary for
“non-academic misconduct” in regards to a pro-life display which they set up on
campus on April 8, 2010.
“The Canadian Constitution Foundation takes no position on abortion, but we
defend free speech for all Canadians, especially on the campus of a
taxpayer-funded university,” states lawyer and CCF Executive Director John
Carpay.
University of Calgary students Alanna Campbell, Leah Hallman, Cristina Perri,
Ryan Wilson, Cameron Wilson, Peter Csillag, and Asia Strezynski stand charged
with “non-academic misconduct” for having refused the University’s demand that
they turn their pro-life display’s signs inwards such that no passersby could
see the signs.
The
U of C has informed these students that their conduct is a “Major Violation” in
the same category with theft, vandalism, fraud, sexual assault, firearms misuse,
and selling drugs.
The
students face penalties which include expulsion from the university.
Last year the U of C charged its own students with trespassing for having set up
their pro-life display on campus. But the Crown Prosecutor’s Office stayed the
charges rather than choosing to go ahead with the trial.
The
students have been setting up their Genocide Awareness Project display on campus
four days per year since 2006, all without incident. Alberta taxpayers provide
the majority of the U of C’s funding each year. The U of C also receives funding
from the federal government.
If
the U of C were truly a private institution, it should be allowed to censor
whichever views it chooses to censor.
But
until the U of C turns down hundreds of millions of dollars in annual funding
from taxpayers, it should allow the peaceful expression of all views on campus,
without discrimination.
CCF Press Release, April 19, 2010.
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