Academic Freedom

There is an ongoing debate about whether universities, when regulating speech on campus, are subject to the Charter of Rights. The Alberta Court of Appeal, in a 2020 judgment that concerned a prolife demonstration on the University of Alberta campus decided that the university was bound by the Charter and that the students had a constitutionally protected right to engage in protest. However, the courts in other provinces, including Ontario, have reached the opposite conclusion, deciding that the Charter does not apply to a university, even when it is regulating speech on campus. 

“I always thought that, as a researcher, if I based my arguments on rigorous research and had the facts on my side, that would be enough. Now, I’m not so sure. For the first time in my professional life, I’m afraid of the consequences for speaking out.”

We write to you out of concern for what is happening on many of Canada’s university and college campuses in relation to expression about the war between Israel and Palestine.

When York University adopted its Freedom of Expression policy in 2018, it trumpeted its commitment to freedom of expression as an institutional commitment of the highest priority.