Group wins right to participate fully in campus life
By Agnieszka Krawczynski
The B.C. Catholic
A group of pro-life students at Brandon University has won back its official status and dropped a lawsuit against its student union.
Students for Life, a club at the school in Brandon, Man., had initiated a court action against the Brandon University Student Union in January after facing what it called censorship and discrimination on campus.
President Catherine Dubois is relieved to have official club status back.
“As students of Brandon University, we must have the same right as every other fee-paying member of BUSU to participate fully in campus life, like other student groups.”
It’s not the first time this club has reached out for legal help.
In 2012 the Brandon University Student Union refused to allow the club to function as an official campus club because, they said, the issues were already covered by the LGBTQ Collective and the Women’s Collective.
The club reached out to the Alberta-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which sent a legal warning letter to the student union, after which the union changed its mind and granted club status in 2013.
Students for Life held events on campus until January 2016, when members found out their club status had been revoked suddenly two months earlier.
“Club status gives us a presence on campus,” Dubois explained. It “allows us to book space on campus without having to pay fees, and student union recognized clubs have access to club funding for activities throughout the school year. We also are freer to put up posters and hand out materials on campus.”
The club appealed the BUSU’s decision, but the union dismissed them, saying the club’s views didn’t line up with the pro-choice stand of the Canadian Federation of Students and that the club might regain its status if it “changed [its] views.”
The club therefore called the JCCF and sued the BUSU.
“Instead of fostering new ideas and engaging and educating students, we have been forced to resort to legal action yet again,” Dubois said at that time.
The club dropped legal action after the BUSU issued a letter to Students for Life five days before the scheduled preliminary court hearings, Aug. 24.
“The current 2016/17 Brandon University Students’ Union Council agrees to reverse the previous decision of the 2015/16 Council and will approve the club status for 2015/16 of Students for Life.”
According to the National Campus Life Network, a Canadian organization that supports university pro-life clubs, there are currently four other lawsuits like this one working their way through the courts.
“This is the highest number of lawsuits regarding campus free speech issues that I’ve seen filed by pro-life clubs within a one-year period,” said executive director Anastasia Pearse.
The other clubs that have legally challenged their post-secondary institutions are at Ryerson University, the University of Toronto — Mississauga, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and the University of Alberta.
“It is unacceptable that a student on a university campus should have to resort to a court challenge to ensure they can enjoy the same freedoms as their peers.”
An article published in The B.C. Catholic May 2 listed 13 student clubs across Canada that have felt muzzled or been denied club status in the last 10 years.
