Frances Widdowson suing U of L for defamation, claiming $3 million in damages

Professor Frances Widdowson is suing the University of Lethbridge for defamation over claims that the university accused her of spreading hate, disinformation, prejudice, and lies.Widdowson, who is claiming $3 million in damages, is a former professor at Mount Royal University and an academic provocateur who has frequently gained notoriety for her views and protests, particularly her protests of indigenous events and events commemorating the residential school system.The issue stems from an incident in February when she was invited to speak at the university, being invited to participate in a discussion about whether or not the residential school system was genocidal.Half an hour before she was due to arrive at the university, the school sent out an email to its students and faculty alerting them to Widdowson's presence on campus and describing her as a "controversial figure" with "upsetting and disrespectful" views.The email resulted in a large number of students gathering to verbally assault and harass the former Mount Royal professor.After this incident the university announced it would be holding an Indigenous smudging ceremony to "dissipate the negative atmosphere brought by this individual to our community.” Widdowson claims that the actions of the university to paint her as a "source of negativity" and the holding of a ceremony to "cleanse" itself after her visit constitute defamation..In an interview with the National Post on Friday, Widdowson stated that she would've ignored the comments if they came from a private individual.However, she noted that the fact that the university used "the full weight of institutional power to try to intimidate people and try to stop people from discussing" is the reason for her lawsuit.In the interview she also stated that universities should act as "bulwarks against authoritarianism," and that the actions of the University of Lethbridge directly go against that."We believe that the university is an area that you should be able to pursue the evidence wherever it leads."She stated that it is for this reason why she feels the lawsuit is necessary: "I’ve already had massive discussions with my lawyers and the reason why we’re doing this is because we’re very concerned about how these kinds of accusations are resulting in chilling discussion."The lawsuit states that the email sent out by the university accused Widdowson of spreading "disinformation based on prejudice and hate.” The lawsuit, which was filed last month, names the governors of U of L, the president of the university, Digvir Jayas, vice provost Leroy Little Bear, chair of the DEI committee, Patrick Wilson, and others as those responsible for the defamation.Widdowson hopes that this lawsuit will serve as an example to others to fight back against what she calls the authoritarian nature of universities.

Frances Widdowson suing U of L for defamation, claiming $3 million in damages

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