History Professor W. R. Laird has published an opinion piece in the February 9th edition of the National Post entitled “Failing Grades on Freedom.” Below is a short excerpt with the full online article entitled “Ontario universities still don’t really want free speech on campus” available online.
In August 2018, the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, under newly elected Premier Doug Ford, required all colleges and universities to devise a policy on the freedom of speech by Jan. 1, 2019. In particular, it required that the policy adhere to the principles of the University of Chicago statement on free speech, notably that “universities and colleges should be places for open discussion and free inquiry,” that they “should not attempt to shield students from ideas or opinions that they disagree with or find offensive,” that “while members of the university or college are free to criticize and contest views expressed on campus, they may not obstruct or interfere with the freedom of others to express their views,” and that “speech that violates the law is not allowed.”
Despite these moderate requirements, the faculty unions were outraged. Both the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and the Canadian Association of University Teachers came out roundly against the measure. They argued first that it actually limits the freedom of speech by violating the autonomy of the university (although they did not invoke university autonomy when previous governments imposed similar requirements for policies on equity and diversity, harassment, and sexual violence). And they argued secondly that universities already had sufficient protections in place (despite the recent and often successful attempts to bar controversial speakers from the University of Toronto, Ryerson, Wilfrid Laurier, Queen’s, and others). In fact, I could find on university websites many existing statements on academic freedom, but only one (the University of Toronto’s) on simple freedom of speech dating from before last fall.
Academic freedom is the freedom from undue influence in the conduct of one’s professional academic duties, and it is rightly conditional on the upholding of professional standards of teaching and research. It is thus a privilege — literally a private law, a special legal status — that applies only to such professionals in their professional capacity. Simple freedom of speech, in contrast, applies unconditionally to everyone, and in Canada it is protected and limited by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter, however, does not apply to universities, which is why they need their own policies.
But it’s now February 2019, and the policies are posted. How well did the universities do?