University of Lethbridge will not host scheduled lecture by controversial guest speaker
The University of Lethbridge, following a great deal of pushback from students and members of the public, says it will not provide space for a planned lecture from a controversial guest speaker.
Frances Widdowson was fired from Calgary's Mount Royal University after she made controversial comments about the Black Lives Matter movement and Canada's residential school system.
She was scheduled for a speaking engagement at the University of Lethbridge on Feb. 1, but the school's president says the facility will no longer be accommodating space for the appearance.
Last week, U of L president Mike Mahon said Widdowson was invited to speak at the institution by another faculty member and emphasized the school's strong feelings about "the value and necessity of freedom of expression."
However, Mahon added that the school should also be cognizant of safety in the school's diverse community.
According to an updated statement, released Monday morning, he said the school was changing its view on Widdowson's speaking engagement.
"In 2019, the university developed a statement that ensured a commitment to free expression on our campus. Our statement acknowledges the university must be able to reasonably regulate the use of facilities, time, place and manner of expression," he said.
"To ensure our community is safe, in the context of this planned lecture, the university will not provide space for this public lecture to occur on campus."
Widdowson – who was hired by MRU to be "a critic of Indigenous policy" – was fired on Dec. 20, 2021, after students complained over the comments she made.
MRU never divulged the true reason for her dismissal, but Widdowson told CTV News last year that she was terminated over the "woke culture" on campus.
"I was questioning woke-ism, woke ideas at the university, so asking questions, and this could not be tolerated by woke activists, which is basically identity politics that has become totalitarian," she said in January 2022.
"That's kind of the environment that was gradually becoming more and more poisonous."
News of her appearance at the U of L reached the media last week and the school first indicated they would have the speech go ahead while providing an opposing position to counter her arguments.
Some students told CTV News that that wasn't enough when it came to someone who "made a career" from discrediting survivors of Canada's residential school system.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.