VICTORIA, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that lawyers funded by the Justice Centre will challenge the prosecution of Canadian academic Dr. Frances Widdowson. She was arrested and ticketed for trespass on December 2, 2025, at the University of Victoria (UVic) after attempting to engage the campus community in discussion about the disputed claims of unmarked graves in Kamloops.
Dr. Widdowson attended the UVic campus with OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie. The dialogue was intended to initiate a good-faith inquiry into a matter relevant to public policy. Yet the university warned the free speech advocates the previous day that they were “not permitted to attend UVic property for the purpose of speaking publicly” and denounced the planned engagement with students on its website both before and after it took place.
When Dr. Widdowson arrived on campus, she was greeted by approximately 100 aggressive protesters assembled where she intended to speak at Petch Fountain. The agitators appeared to include a mix of self-identified Communists, Hamas supporters, and Antifa-aligned individuals.
Confronted by UVic security officials and multiple Saanich police officers, Dr. Widdowson was quickly served with a trespass notice. When she declined to leave, she was arrested, detained for about two hours, and charged under British Columbia’s Trespass Act—an offence punishable by fines up to $2,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment.
Dr. Widdowson said, “My arrest at the University of Victoria is an indication of an institution that is completely unmoored from its academic purpose.”
“It has been perpetuating the falsehood of 215 remains of children being confirmed at Kamloops since 2021, and is intent on censoring any correction of this claim. This should be of concern for everyone who believes that universities should be places of open inquiry and critical thinking, not propaganda and indoctrination,” she added.
Constitutional lawyer Glenn Blackett said, “The University of Victoria receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars annually while it facilitates the arrest of Canadians attempting to engage in free inquiry on campus.”
Her legal team will contest the ticket and defend her Charter-protected freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly. No stranger to controversy over academic freedom, Dr. Widdowson previously served as a tenured professor at Mount Royal University before being dismissed in 2021 following criticism over her views on identity politics and Indigenous policy.
An arbitrator later found her termination wrongful.
Her 2008 book Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry was shortlisted for the Donner Prize in public policy literature, and she is the 2025 recipient of the Justice Centre’s George Jonas Freedom Award for her commitment to protecting freedom of expression and open inquiry.
Further updates will be provided when available.
