Canadian Universities: A Threat to Free Speech (Calgary)

Guest Speaker: John Carpay, Barrister/Solicitor and President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

Traditionally, the university was a bastion of free speech and a forum where all views – no matter how controversial, unpopular, or offensive to some– were expressed and debated.  Universities abhorred censorship in the belief that the quest for truth was assisted by the clash of ideas.

Not anymore. Today’s universities empower their administrators and student union politicians with numerous policies, regulations and by-laws to censor expression on campus and to restrict speech considered to be “offensive,” “hurtful,” “provocative,” “disrespectful,” “insulting,” “graphic,” “harassing,” “intimidating,” “abusive” or  “divisive.” 

John Carpay will introduce preliminary research that the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is preparing, its “Campus Freedom Index,” to evaluate and rank the state of free speech at Canadian universities.

About the Guest:

Calgary lawyer John Carpay is President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which defends freedom of expression in Canada’s courtrooms, with a particular focus on campus free speech.  John has defended individual freedom in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (Boissoin v. Lund), Saskatchewan Court of Appeal (Whatcott v. Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission) and Supreme Court of Canada (R. v. Kapp).  In 2010, Preston Manning presented John Carpay with the Pyramid Award for Ideas and Public Policy in recognition of John’s constitutional advocacy work.  From 2001 to 2005, he served as Alberta Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, advocating for lower taxes, less waste, and accountable government.  John, Barbra, and their four children reside in Calgary.

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