- Charles Lewis: Intolerance triumphs on Canadian campuses
-
At the University of Guelph, a student council decides an anti-abortion group is unfair to women so they are banned. Queen's University hires "dialogue facilitators" because they are unsure that the right kinds of conversation are taking place among students. At Carleton University, some students decide that cystic fibrosis is too white a disease so it is unworthy of charitable funding.
Critics charge that all these recent incidents are just the latest signs of the erosion of free speech at Canadian universities.
"I think that on many university campuses they think that if they have to decide between free speech and equality they will choose equality in the end," said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, a lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. "And the problem is that dichotomy is a false one to start with because freedom of expression and equality go hand in hand. Disadvantaged groups have used their freedom of expression to get their voice heard. They've used freedom of speech to show injustice when it's out there to persuade public opinion. And that's how we've made the advances that we have."
An Internet Fisherman who uses barbless hooks and this one dimensional world as a way of releasing the frustrations of daily life. This is my pond. You are welcome only if you are civil and contribute something to the ambiance. I reserve the right to ignore/publish/reject anon comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment