Unbelievable! How ironic that this is the same university that is about to host a conference titled “From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding”.
Well said, as always. Violence is, of course, the point. You never hear the sentence 'The riot squad was called and nothing happened'; the university leadership know, and expect, this. Authority does not like to have its' legitimacy questioned, let alone by those it views as lesser minds. Shutting down the 'rabble' with force is how it was always going to end, and being academic authority the sophistry and convoluted justifications for the violence will flow.
Not true. Emergencies Act in Ottawa. Heavily armed police in riot gear vs tough talking convoy protesters. A slow moving wall of shields backed shouting protesters away from trucks that got towed. No injuries.
Amazing how the police act when they support a cause...Somehow I don't believe that largely racialized students, many Muslim, will be treated with the same courtesy.
The bigger question is why we are letting university administrators treat campuses as private property.
Because they are private property? Why did the university allow these illegal occupations to go on so long, and why did the police not act in a timely fashion to uphold the law instead of the university having to waste time and energy to get an injunction? Freedom of speech is not absolute, and expression of one’s rights does not permit violation of others rights.
Calling universities private property is a joke. UWaterloo was literally created through an act of the legislature, and billions of public money has gone into infrastruture, operations, salaries, research equipment, etc.
If we accept your argument, then any protests on campus can only happen with the express authority of the university administration--which is absurd.
Most demonstrations break laws--whether by-laws, traffic/transportation act laws, etc. That does not make them illegal.
Speaking in his report of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency (regarding the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa) Commission and Justice Paul Rouleau stated that: “Only ‘peaceful’ assemblies are protected by section 2(c) of the Charter. As a matter of definition, ‘peaceful’ might simply mean ‘without violence,’ but it could also entail something closer to ‘quiet’ or ‘calm.’ A violent assembly would clearly not fall within section 2(c). The more difficult question is whether an assembly should lose constitutional protection if it is disruptive or unlawful, but not violent. In my view, it can be reasonable to protect assemblies that produce an element of disruption. Many public protests are disruptive, and that disruption may be central to their efficacy. This is especially true for groups and communities who are otherwise politically marginalized”(p.23).
Unbelievable! How ironic that this is the same university that is about to host a conference titled “From Targeting in Academia to Promoting Trust and Understanding”.
Yeah, but they control the agenda and attendance for that, so it's okay.
Well said, as always. Violence is, of course, the point. You never hear the sentence 'The riot squad was called and nothing happened'; the university leadership know, and expect, this. Authority does not like to have its' legitimacy questioned, let alone by those it views as lesser minds. Shutting down the 'rabble' with force is how it was always going to end, and being academic authority the sophistry and convoluted justifications for the violence will flow.
Not true. Emergencies Act in Ottawa. Heavily armed police in riot gear vs tough talking convoy protesters. A slow moving wall of shields backed shouting protesters away from trucks that got towed. No injuries.
Amazing how the police act when they support a cause...Somehow I don't believe that largely racialized students, many Muslim, will be treated with the same courtesy.
The bigger question is why we are letting university administrators treat campuses as private property.
Because they are private property? Why did the university allow these illegal occupations to go on so long, and why did the police not act in a timely fashion to uphold the law instead of the university having to waste time and energy to get an injunction? Freedom of speech is not absolute, and expression of one’s rights does not permit violation of others rights.
Calling universities private property is a joke. UWaterloo was literally created through an act of the legislature, and billions of public money has gone into infrastruture, operations, salaries, research equipment, etc.
If we accept your argument, then any protests on campus can only happen with the express authority of the university administration--which is absurd.
Most demonstrations break laws--whether by-laws, traffic/transportation act laws, etc. That does not make them illegal.
Speaking in his report of the Public Inquiry into the 2022 Public Order Emergency (regarding the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa) Commission and Justice Paul Rouleau stated that: “Only ‘peaceful’ assemblies are protected by section 2(c) of the Charter. As a matter of definition, ‘peaceful’ might simply mean ‘without violence,’ but it could also entail something closer to ‘quiet’ or ‘calm.’ A violent assembly would clearly not fall within section 2(c). The more difficult question is whether an assembly should lose constitutional protection if it is disruptive or unlawful, but not violent. In my view, it can be reasonable to protect assemblies that produce an element of disruption. Many public protests are disruptive, and that disruption may be central to their efficacy. This is especially true for groups and communities who are otherwise politically marginalized”(p.23).
https://publicorderemergencycommission.ca/final-report/