VANCOUVER—The Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to a pro-life club at the University of Victoria, a judge ruled last month.
The club, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY), took the university to court over discrimination and censorship of its activities on campus. Judge Christopher Hinkson ruled in the school’s favour.
“If the activity or decision falls within the university’s sphere of autonomous operational decision-making, the Charter will not apply to such a decision,” he stated Jan. 14.
Former YPY president Anastasia Pearse said the ruling supports the attack on the club’s freedom of speech. “There has been a culture of bullying on campus. Student societies and administration are discriminating against clubs and getting away with it,” she told The B.C. Catholic.
In the past few years, the club has been denied funding, club status, and booking privileges. Students have stalled an abortion debate with a yelling match, used stink bombs during club events, and stolen fetal models from a YPY information booth and vandalized it by dumping kitty litter on it.
In 2013 the club was given permission which was later revoked to hold Choice Chain, an outdoor display that uses images of aborted babies. When the club held the event anyway, the university took away its right to book outdoor space for one year.
Cameron Cote, the YPY president at the time, filed a petition with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to reverse the university’s decision. He was surprised and disappointed with the B.C. Supreme Court ruling.
“The court ruled, from what I gathered, UVic can pick and choose not to be held accountable to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said. “It seems a bit of a double standard that anyone can have their say except pro-life people.”
Nitya Iyer, who represents the student society, has said the issue had nothing to do with the club’s stand on abortion.
“It’s quite a narrow and technical point in a way, because it’s not about abortion. It’s about the balance between government and private entities in terms of regulation of free speech,” Iyer told Victoria’s Times Colonist newspaper.
“It’s not even about freedom of speech, in my view. It’s about how we draw lines between who can do what, where.” She said universities should be able to make and keep their own rules about who can use their space.
Cote doubts the club crossed the line with its activities. “We’re not out here making charged political comments or satirical comics,” as did the now well-known Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris. Its editorial staff were recently attacked by terrorists saying they had gone too far in their depictions of Mohammed.
“When you consider the nature of the (Choice Chain) event, we show the reality of what abortion does to an unborn child.”
Pearse said YPY has faced challenges over everything from fetal models to posters saying “women deserve better” to graphic images.
“It’s obviously not the means that show the message, it’s the message itself,” she said. “Just because it’s hard to hear doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be allowed.”
Cote said it was likely they would appeal the decision.
