Sadly, the effects of the HRCs’ pernicious thinking were displayed by the University of Calgary last month when, without even a fig-leaf of justification, authorities attempted to halt a display by the campus’s pro-life group.
The Genocide Awareness Project, which has held similar displays on the U of C’s campus for the last five years, was threatened and intimidated by campus thugs, while they heroically witnessed, not only to the humanity of the unborn child, but also to the university’s mission to pursue truth. While the graphic images of aborted children, displayed by GAP, were disturbing, so too were the actions of the university authorities. Campus security officials took down the names of the students who were participating in the demonstration – a tactic used by communist regimes to intimidate and silence their opponents. This outrageous attempt to stifle free expression was a scandalous betrayal of the university’s own ideals and its actions were appropriately condemned by members of its own faculty and by the Calgary Herald.
The University of Calgary’s outrageous actions come at a time when Canada’s reputation for protecting free speech is already tarnished. In August, members of the American Political Science Association urged that their 2009 meeting not be held in Toronto because of the dangers posed to freedom of expression by Canada’s HRCs. The motto of the U of C translates as, “I will lift up mine eyes.” But, in bullying a small group of courageous students, they have turned a blind eye to their integrity, their history and indeed, to their academic obligation to protect and promote intellectual freedom.
