It will give people some guidance,” said Linda Franklin, president of Colleges Ontario, of the new standard policy adopted in mid-December by all publicly-funded colleges. Last August, after incidents on campuses across North America where speakers faced protests, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Merrilee Fullerton told colleges and universities they needed to implement free-speech policies and have them in place for the New Year. Anything that is against the law already, there will be repercussions.”However, Fullerton added, the government was “constantly” hearing that free speech was being stifled on Ontario campuses. The Ontario colleges’ policy — modelled on a well-regarded one developed by the University of Chicago — aims to strike a balance between promoting free speech while protecting against hate speech. Colleges Ontario has come under fire from the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which said more input was needed and claimed no faculty members were included.

Source: thestar January 05, 2019 05:15 UTC