A case heading to British Columbia’s highest court could determine whether public universities are constitutionally required to protect free expression and whether the provincial government can be held liable when they don’t.The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has filed an appeal against the University of British Columbia and the Province of British Columbia over the 2019 cancellation of a campus event called “Understanding Antifa Violence,” hosted by UBC’s student-run Free Speech Club. The university cited safety concerns when it called off the event, sparking legal action over freedom of expression on campus.At issue are two key questions: whether universities like UBC are bound by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and whether the province can be held responsible for Charter violations committed by publicly funded post-secondary institutions.In June 2024, the BC Supreme Court ruled that UBC is not a government entity and is therefore not subject to the Charter, citing a 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision. That decision, based on how UBC was structured at the time, concluded that it did not constitute a government actor.But lawyers for the Free Speech Club argue UBC’s current relationship with government has changed dramatically, noting the province allocated nearly $7 billion to BC universities in its 2024 budget.Constitutional lawyer Glenn Blackett said the lower court misapplied precedent. “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,” he said.Now, UBC and the province are pushing for an order that would prevent most of the Supreme Court ruling from being appealed. If successful, that could block any higher court review of the decision that universities have no constitutional obligation to protect students’ free expression.“It would be an unjust abuse of process to attempt to insulate a lower court decision from appeal,” said Blackett. “Appeal courts are in place to correct lower court mistakes. The lower court here obviously made several mistakes with significant Charter implications.”A procedural appeal is scheduled for November 19, with the main appeal expected in early 2026.
