Ruth Shaw executive director for the National Life Network.
The campus pro-life group at the University of Ottawa vows to fight a recent decision that has stripped it of official club status.
“So effectively as of right now, the club has lost status,” says pro-life champion Ruth Shaw, executive director for the National Campus Life Network, a group that trains Canadian university students to communicate effectively about the realities of abortion with those on campus.
The pro-life organization is serving in an official capacity to speak on behalf of the shut out pro-life club, the University of Ottawa Students for Life (UOSFL).
Removing club status means that the pro-life group can no longer access funding or resources through the student union.
The UOSFL is appealing the recent decision to ban the group and will launch a counter to the ruling at a future board meeting of the newly created University of Ottawa Student Union (UOSU), after the original student union was shut down due to financial mismanagement involving members of its executive.
“They are going to appeal the decision, and we are looking at strategies to employ within the next couple of weeks with them,” Shaw added. “More than anything, our aim is to have students keep active. We are not going anywhere, club status does not really mean much; we can operate.”
The ban on the UOSFL was driven in part by a 500-signature petition against them, started by fifth-year University of Ottawa biology student Bridget Dueck. She was quoted in Carlton University’s independent newspaper, the Charlatan: “We are not focusing on the abortion debate, because there is no debate – it is a human right.” She added, “We are focusing on the students dictating where the resources they pay for go, making them feel safe on campus and free to access their education without any fear of discomfort or trauma caused by this group.”
The UOSFL has been in a long battle to regain official club status, having been mostly in a shutout state since October of 2017. That was when the now defunct Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) stripped the club of status. This happened because “their mandate promotes human rights for all human beings” as reported inLifesitenewsin 2017. The club had been operating for ten years as a registered campus club, fostering respectful dialogue and hosting many different events focusing on human rights issues, especially pro-life. Without official club status, the UOSFL does not receive any funding or support from the UOSU.
The club regained status for a short time in October of 2019 as reported on its Facebook page. It still needed, however, the final approval of the UOSU, which has recently announced that it was taking a pro-abortion position, changing its club code of conduct to block any anti-abortion groups from obtaining funding.
The University of Ottawa’s student union held a General Assembly at the start of December, in which students were given an opportunity to vote on the club status of UOSFL. The meeting failed to meet a quorum, meaning the final decision to determine the pro-life club’s status came down to a Dec. 20 UOSU meeting between the student union and pro-life students. It was at this meeting where the petition of 500 signatures was brought forward from pro-abortion advocates. The committee then voted to strip the UOSFL of its status.
Shaw feels that the entire process was unfair, telling Lifesitenewsthat the student union “effectively rewrote the rules to work in their favour.”
Shaw notes that UOSFL is still able to be on campus and has a presence there. This is something she feels is in large part due to a recent free speech policy mandate from the Ontario provincial government.
“Effectively, we can keep our club and do exactly what we were doing, thanks to the Doug Ford Policy,” says Shaw. The “Doug Ford Policy” is a 2019 mandate from the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities which requires all Ontario publicly assisted colleges and universities to have a free speech policy. It came about as an election campaign promise from Doug Ford who ordered that it be enacted when he became premier.
She noted that she is grateful for this free speech policy, which she says has enabled the UOFSL to operate, despite not being officially supported by the UOSU.
“Colleges and universities should be places where students exchange different ideas and opinions in open and respectful debate,” said Ford in the official press release regarding the mandate.
A version of this article originally appeared Jan. 20 at Lifesitenews and is used with permission.
