Scheer backs off vow to protect campus speech
Schools have right to pick speakers, Tory leader says
After controversial events were cancelled at two Toronto campuses this week, Conservative party Leader Andrew Scheer says universities have the right to determine which “outside groups” they give platforms to.
In an interview Friday, the National Post asked Scheer to clarify a policy idea floated during his leadership campaign: to make federal grant money for universities dependent on fostering a culture of freedom of speech on campus.
“I respect the right for universities to determine which outside groups they give a platform to. And so that’s within their purview,” Scheer told the Post.
After Scheer narrowly won the Conservative mantle at the end of May, insiders from his campaign cited the policy as a reason he gained late traction in the race.
Prompting Scheer to propose the policy were apparent infringements on conservative voices being heard on campuses, an issue near and dear to his base.
A pro-life event had been cancelled at Wilfrid Laurier University. Pro-Israel articles were being barred from a McGill University student paper. Protests were engulfing University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson over his controversial views on gender pronouns.
Scheer said little about the policy after becoming party leader, with Parliament rising for the summer and his office still working on hiring staff after an exodus that followed former interim leader Rona Ambrose.
But recent events have prompted new questions.
This week, the University of Toronto said it would not open space on its campus for an event hosted by the Canadian Nationalist Party, which is not a registered political party.
According to the white nationalist group, a rally was being planned on campus grounds for Sept. 14 but is being cancelled due to “risk of violence and vandalism.”
A counter-rally planned for the same day, called the Unity Rally to Silence White Supremacy in Toronto, had well over 5,000 attendees listed as of Friday. It noted in a Facebook event description “we will absolutely be moving forward” even though the nationalist event was being barred by the university.
Asked whether his policy would apply to the situation in any way, Scheer responded with a broad explanation, characterizing the policy as a way to encourage a culture of free speech on campus, with grant money prioritized for institutions that protect this right.
“I look at my policy as a positive way to incentivize universities to put in a plan or to have a thought about how they can make sure that, for example, events that have already been sanctioned, that have already been given the green light, don’t get shut down by small groups of radical protesters,” he said.
Pressed on how this would actually work, and whether the policy would only apply to events university administrations have already approved, Scheer said he plans to sit down with administrators to nail down “an objective set of criteria.”
He added his policy would keep in mind existing laws on hate speech and inciting hatred and violence. “My policy would absolutely respect that and integrate that.”
But does a group with extreme views deserve to have free speech rights, whether or not hate laws are violated? Scheer wouldn’t give a clear answer. “I’m not going to get drawn into hypotheticals. I also don’t think it’s appropriate to use extreme examples as justifications for what’s going on all across campuses,” he said.
In another example this week, Ryerson University cancelled an event called “The Stifling of Free Speech on University Campuses.” Its guests included Peterson and Faith Goldy, a personality linked, until this week, with Canadian far-right website The Rebel. Space was booked and the event was to be moderated by a Ryerson alumnus. But the university said it was not equipped to provide “the necessary level of public safety,” a spokesman had told the Post.
Although he had been supportive of Peterson in an initial interview about the policy, Scheer would not comment on the Ryerson event saying he was not familiar with its parameters — whether it was an “outside group” hosting the event or not. But he said universities “have an obligation to ensure that there’s safety and respect on campus at the same time.”
An uncomfortable backdrop were last weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the death of a counter-protester amid clashes over a white supremacist rally.
Goldy gave sympathetic coverage to the white nationalists, calling themselves a “unite the right” march, setting off widespread criticism of The Rebel. The backlash prompted a host of Rebel contributors to leave the outlet. Goldy was fired. Several high-profile federal and provincial conservative politicians also distanced themselves.
Asked for his reaction to the chaos, Scheer, who had previously been interviewed by the Rebel, disavowed the outlet. “Look, I believe that there’s a fine line between covering events and giving a platform to groups that are promoting a vile and disgusting point of view. … I won’t be granting interviews going forward,” he said.
“What happened in Charlottesville was just so disgusting and to in any way give any kind of legitimacy to that, those views, I just made the decision that I won’t be having anything to do with that going forward.”