Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
This is an abrupt about face from the University's past actions regarding the group's protest. In the past, people walking past were given fair warning as well as fair advisement that the protests were protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Furthermore, Canadian jurisprudence and Charter case precedence clearly show that the Charter is expected to reside not only in the public sphere, but also in the private sphere.
The University is private property, in title only, for administrative purposes. In reality, it is a publicly funded institution which is supposed to be a free ground for the exchange of ideas.
This is politics. Pure and simple. The Pro-Life group became to much of a controversy so the University decided to take the easy way out.
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In the past they warned people that they are protecting their right to hold their protest in a civil manner. Obviously their event has progressed far beyond that as they tried to push the boundaries further and further.
The university will protect their right to hold a protest and debate the issue on its merits but they warned the pro-lifers that they would be cracking down on obscenity and harassment.
If I march into a calculus class and interrupt the prof to sell them on the virtues of the flying spaghetti monster by passing out pictures of mutilated kittens, do you think campus security would try to silence me? If I refused to obey and leave - is that a violation of my right to free speech and self expression? They're a public institution devoted to the free exchange of ideas, right? Right?!