Thinking of blowing a horn? Watch out ...

McMaster and Patrick Deane unveil balanced free speech guidelines

You have to hand it to McMaster University president Patrick Deane.

Back in the fall, in response to growing attempts to shut down controversial opinions on university campuses across North America, Deane said he planned to establish ground rules that strike a balance between protecting free speech and the right to protest.

The university’s recently-released draft guidelines on freedom of expression and dissent bend over backwards to do just that.

The guidelines, Deane says, are not intended to address the contents of a controversial speech but how to manage an event, regardless of the content.

“What I’ve been trying to achieve with all this is a way of reasserting the functioning ability to hold debates in the university without it becoming a matter largely for the security service,” Deane said in an interview.

Under the guidelines, for example, protesters can “spontaneously and temporarily” boo a speaker if the reaction is similar in “kind and degree” to cheers and applause.

On the other hand, chanting, blowing horns or whistles or making other “sustained or repeated noise” is not permitted if it “substantially interferes” with the speaker whether inside or outside the meeting.

You might call the latter the Jordan Peterson rule after the controversial University of Toronto psychology professor who warns against the dangers of “compelled speech” on gender identity issues. Last year Peterson’s speech at Mac was disrupted by rowdy protesters clanging cowbells, blowing horns and chanting obscenities.

According to Deane, it was the Peterson incident that clarified the need for Mac to reassert the fundamental principle of freedom of expression during a time of increasingly polarized opinions and when many are no longer as skilled as people once were at debating and discussing issues.

But Deane also wanted to make it crystal clear that just as there’s a right to free speech, “there is right to speak against what is said and the right to protest.”

So, for example, under the guidelines it’s permissible for protesters to display signs, make gestures and stand up — as long as it doesn’t interfere with the audience’s view or ability to pay attention to the speaker. Prolonged behaviour likely to block the view of anyone in the audience should be confined to the back of the room.

The document lists several examples of “unacceptable behaviour” that promotes or incites harassment, intimidation, discrimination, violence or hate.

The guidelines (bit.ly/MacGuidelines) developed by Deane and his office staff, were released in tandem with a committee report spelling out Mac’s “unequivocal commitment to freedom of expression” within legal parameters.

Deane welcomes input on the draft document from both the McMaster and broader community.

He expects it to become official in the near future but, noting no guidelines can cover all contingencies, also wants it to remain flexible enough to be modified in response to circumstances.

A critical question in regard to the precept that protesters must not “substantially interfere” with a speaker’s ability to communicate is who decides what constitutes substantial interference?

According to Deane, if somebody has to make that call, it should be the event’s moderator.

“It’s always going to be a judgment call, but I think the judgment call is best placed in the hand of someone who’s been brought to an event in order to be impartial and to manage and try to ensure that all voices are heard.”

Under the guidelines, moderators first notify unruly dissenters if they’re interfering with an event, ask them to leave if they persist, and finally call in security services if they don’t.

If the behaviour appears to violate Mac policies or codes, an investigation will take place and penalties for violations imposed.

Reflecting the rise of identify politics, one of the arguments against full-bore freedom of speech on campus is it conflicts with inclusivity for previously marginalized groups. Deane argues that’s a “false opposition.”

“All parties, marginal and otherwise, benefit from there being openness to all views.”

In sum, Deane believes a university needs to be a place where there is more talk rather than less about difficult questions.

The guidelines represent his attempt to safeguard that basic principle at Mac.