VANCOUVER, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that it has filed legal arguments in a court appeal against the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Province of British Columbia.
In 2019, UBC cancelled an “Understanding Antifa Violence” event hosted by the student-run Free Speech Club, citing concerns about the emotional and psychological safety and security of the campus community.
There are two central issues in this case. One is whether universities are subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and must, therefore, protect freedom of expression. The second is whether the Province is liable for Charter damages caused by UBC.
In June 2024, the BC Supreme Court ruled that UBC is not a government entity and does not deliver a government program, effectively shielding it from Charter accountability, even though the provincial government allocated nearly $7 billion to BC universities in its 2024 budget.
The decision was based on a Supreme Court of Canada case which determined that UBC, as structured in 1990, was not government. The plaintiffs argued that, because UBC was now subject to significant government control, the Charter should now be found to apply.
Constitutional lawyer Glenn Blackett explained, “The court is supposed to apply the legal principles from older cases to the facts before it. But here the court applied the facts and outcome of the older case, without really considering the legal principles.”
That decision is being appealed.
Now, UBC and the Province are adamant on a particular form of order that threatens to immunize the bulk of the lower court decision from appeal to the British Columbia Court of Appeal – BC’s highest court. If they are successful, it may not be possible to appeal the decision that BC universities have no constitutional obligation to respect the freedom of expression of their students.
“It would be an unjust abuse of process to attempt to insulate a lower court decision from appeal,” said Mr. Blackett. “Appeal courts are in place to correct lower court mistakes. The lower court here obviously made several mistakes with significant Charter implications. Not only are we appealing the BC Supreme Court’s June 2024 decision, we are working hard to prevent that decision from being made ‘appeal-proofed.’”
Lawyers for the Free Speech Club have an appeal of the procedural issue scheduled for November 19, 2025, with the main appeal likely to be scheduled in early 2026.
