{"id":11147,"date":"2026-04-17T04:22:48","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11147"},"modified":"2026-04-17T04:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:23:16","slug":"freedom-of-speech-at-risk-ex-prof-argues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=11147","title":{"rendered":"Free\u00addom of speech at risk, ex-prof argues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wid\u00addowson turns to court after talk shut down by protest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Free\u00addom of speech at risk, ex-prof argues<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Wid\u00addowson turns to court after talk shut down by protest<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"National<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jesse snyder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 Apr 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EDMONTON \u2022 A former uni\u00adversity pro\u00adfessor who became a con\u00adten\u00adtious fig\u00adure for ques\u00adtion\u00ading claims about the exist\u00adence of Indi\u00adgen\u00adous unmarked graves says the out\u00adcome of her ongo\u00ading court battle will set a cru\u00adcial pre\u00adced\u00adent for aca\u00addemic free\u00addom in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frances Wid\u00addowson, who launched a legal chal\u00adlenge against Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge in July 2023, had her argu\u00adments heard by a Court of King\u2019s Bench judge on Fri\u00adday. Wid\u00addowson, a former Mount Royal Uni\u00adversity pro\u00adfessor, argues that the Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge restric\u00adted her right to free speech when it can\u00adcelled her pub\u00adlic talk in Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black\u00adfoot First Nation pro\u00adtest\u00aders and other demon\u00adstrat\u00adors pres\u00adsured the uni\u00adversity to can\u00adcel the event, and then-pres\u00adid\u00adent Michael Mahon con\u00adsen\u00adted to their calls amid what the school describes as secur\u00adity con\u00adcerns. Wid\u00addowson \u2014 who has promp\u00adted sim\u00adilar protests at two other Cana\u00addian uni\u00adversit\u00adies \u2014 said the can\u00adcel\u00adla\u00adtion mir\u00adrors a wor\u00adry\u00ading trend of cam\u00adpuses restrict\u00ading pre\u00adcisely the sorts of open debates they are meant to encour\u00adage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Frances Wid\u00addowson says First Nations deserve to have their struggles addressed on a found\u00ada\u00adtion of truth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople need to take this ser\u00adi\u00adously, because uni\u00adversit\u00adies are incred\u00adibly import\u00adant insti\u00adtu\u00adtions in a demo\u00adcratic soci\u00adety,\u201d Wid\u00addowson said. \u201cThey let know\u00adledge be dis\u00adsem\u00adin\u00adated, they\u2019re import\u00adant in the train\u00ading of pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals, and are also a bul\u00adwark against author\u00adit\u00adari\u00adan\u00adism. All of those func\u00adtions now are under threat, because you have insti\u00adtu\u00adtions like the Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge, which is not aca\u00addemic at all any\u00admore and has been com\u00adpletely cap\u00adtured by Indi\u00adgen\u00adiz\u00ada\u00adtion act\u00adiv\u00adists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court hear\u00adings have focused on whether the uni\u00adversity had an oblig\u00ada\u00adtion to pro\u00adtect free speech in the face of the alleged \u201cvery real harms\u201d of host\u00ading the event, accord\u00ading to a legal brief filed to the court by Wid\u00addowson\u2019s law\u00adyer, Glenn Black\u00adett. Fol\u00adlow\u00ading Fri\u00adday\u2019s hear\u00adings, a rul\u00ading is expec\u00adted in the com\u00ading months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wid\u00addowson has attrac\u00adted oppos\u00adi\u00adtion primar\u00adily for work in which she has doubted the claims put for\u00adward about Indi\u00adgen\u00adous unmarked graves in Canada, with a focus on Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc, pre\u00advi\u00adously known as the Kam\u00adloops Indian Band, which has claimed that 215 \u201cmiss\u00ading chil\u00addren\u201d are bur\u00adied in unmarked graves on the site of a former B.C. res\u00adid\u00aden\u00adtial school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly five years after the ini\u00adtial claim, however, the First Nation has not exhumed the remains of any chil\u00addren. In a Feb\u00adru\u00adary update, the First Nation said its invest\u00adig\u00ada\u00adtion using ground-pen\u00adet\u00adrat\u00ading radar is ongo\u00ading. Wid\u00addowson has made a point of emphas\u00adiz\u00ading the lack of evid\u00adence, includ\u00ading in a 2025 You\u00adtube doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00adary called \u201cWhat Remains: After\u00admath of the Kam\u00adloops Mass Grave Decep\u00adtion.\u201d (A 2021 Assembly of First Nations res\u00adol\u00adu\u00adtion referred to the Kam\u00adloops claims as an example of \u201cburial sites or mass graves.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wid\u00addowson said it was an \u201copen ques\u00adtion\u201d whether any chil\u00addren were secretly bur\u00adied on the Kam\u00adloops site but said the alleg\u00ada\u00adtions need to be scru\u00adtin\u00adized and sup\u00adpor\u00adted. The graves are reg\u00adu\u00adlarly cited as evid\u00adence of Canada\u2019s alleged gen\u00ado\u00adcide against First Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClaims should be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

asser\u00adted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

NEVER BEEN A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE QUALITY OR ETHICS OF HER SCHOLARSHIP.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

on the basis of reason, evid\u00adence and logic, not the basis of a pre\u00adscribed doc\u00adtrine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The planned Feb\u00adru\u00adary 2023 event was about how \u201cwokeism\u201d was under\u00admin\u00ading aca\u00addemic free\u00addom. Wid\u00addowson agreed to the talk on the invit\u00ada\u00adtion of Paul Vimin\u00aditz, a pro\u00adfessor who the uni\u00adversity later fired in 2024. (Vimin\u00aditz was pre\u00advi\u00adously a party to Wid\u00addowson\u2019s Court of King\u2019s chal\u00adlenge, and Jonah Pickle, a former stu\u00addent, is cur\u00adrently an applic\u00adant).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wid\u00addowson has since called on the Alberta gov\u00adern\u00adment to inter\u00advene in her case, but the gov\u00adern\u00adment has thus far declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eliza\u00adbeth Harper, spokes\u00adper\u00adson for Advanced Edu\u00adca\u00adtion Min\u00adis\u00adter Myles Mcdou\u00adgall, said the province\u2019s uni\u00adversit\u00adies are oblig\u00adated to report on their free speech policies, adding that \u201cthe Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge has been asked to review their policies to ensure that they sup\u00adport free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mat\u00adthew Wood\u00adley, a law\u00adyer at Reyn\u00adolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP who is rep\u00adres\u00adent\u00ading the Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge, was not avail\u00adable for an inter\u00adview, accord\u00ading to his assist\u00adant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a state\u00adment, Uni\u00adversity of Leth\u00adbridge spokes\u00adper\u00adson Tre\u00advor Ken\u00adney said that the same week of the can\u00adcelled talk, Wid\u00addowson led two other lec\u00adtures at the uni\u00adversity without incid\u00adent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Uni\u00adversity can\u00adcelled a room book\u00ading for an event involving Frances Wid\u00addowson as the res\u00adult of con\u00adcerns relat\u00ading to pos\u00adsible harms raised by mem\u00adbers of the Uni\u00adversity com\u00admunity, includ\u00ading safety risks,\u201d Ken\u00adney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On May 27, 2021, the Kam\u00adloops Indian Band, or Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secwepemc, claimed it had loc\u00adated the remains of 215 chil\u00addren \u2014 \u201csome as young as three years old\u201d \u2014 in an apple orch\u00adard at a former res\u00adid\u00aden\u00adtial school site. The claims were based on the res\u00adults of ground-pen\u00adet\u00adrat\u00ading radar, which is cap\u00adable of detect\u00ading ground dis\u00adturb\u00adances but does not con\u00adfirm the pres\u00adence of human remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next month, the Cowessess First Nation in Saskat\u00adchewan said it had found 751 poten\u00adtial unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Mer\u00adieval Indian Res\u00adid\u00aden\u00adtial School. (The Cowessess chief emphas\u00adized at the time that they were not mass graves, but unmarked ones.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some cit\u00adies includ\u00ading Vic\u00adtoria can\u00adcelled their Canada Day cel\u00adeb\u00adra\u00adtions that year, while the gov\u00adern\u00adment ordered the Cana\u00addian flag on fed\u00aderal build\u00adings to fly at half-mast for sev\u00aderal months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wid\u00addowson said Canada\u2019s First Nations deserve to have their many struggles addressed on a found\u00ada\u00adtion of truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t have the truth, we will not be able to fig\u00adure out the best way to organ\u00adize soci\u00adety,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s happened to Abori\u00adginal people now, is that they\u2019re being fed a whole bunch of false\u00adhoods, which are mak\u00ading it impossible for Abori\u00adginal people to thrive and live full lives in mod\u00adern soci\u00adety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Decem\u00adber 2021, Mount Royal Uni\u00adversity, Wid\u00addowson\u2019s former employer, fired her over alleg\u00ada\u00adtions that a series of tweets she had pos\u00adted were a form of har\u00adass\u00adment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, an arbit\u00adrator found that Wid\u00addowson\u2019s dis\u00admissal was unwar\u00adran\u00adted and that, des\u00adpite her con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsial views, there had \u201cnever been a com\u00adplaint about the qual\u00adity or eth\u00adics of her schol\u00adar\u00adship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wid\u00addowson turns to court after talk shut down by protest Free\u00addom of speech at risk, ex-prof argues Wid\u00addowson turns to court after talk shut down by protest Jesse snyder 15 Apr 2026 EDMONTON \u2022 A former uni\u00adversity pro\u00adfessor who became … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4384,6279,6280,838,6278],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11149,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147\/revisions\/11149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}