The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has announced it will challenge the prosecution of Canadian academic Dr. Frances Widdowson, who was ticketed for trespass at the University of Victoria on December 2.Widdowson, accompanied by OneBC Leader Dallas Brodie, had attempted to engage students in a discussion about disputed claims of unmarked graves in Kamloops. The university had warned the pair the day before that they were “not permitted to attend UVic property for the purpose of speaking publicly” and publicly denounced the planned engagement.When confronted on campus by security and Saanich police, Widdowson was served a trespass notice and subsequently charged under British Columbia’s Trespass Act. The offence carries fines up to $2,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment.JCCF lawyers will defend Widdowson, asserting her Charter-protected rights to free expression and peaceful assembly. .Constitutional lawyer Glenn Blackett criticized the university for using taxpayer-funded resources to facilitate action against Canadians seeking open inquiry.“My arrest at the University of Victoria is an indication of an institution that is completely unmoored from its academic purpose,” Widdowson said. “Universities should be places of open inquiry and critical thinking, not propaganda and indoctrination.”Widdowson previously served as a tenured professor at Mount Royal University before being dismissed in 2021 over her views on identity politics and indigenous policy, a termination later found wrongful by an arbitrator. She is the author of the 2008 book Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry and the 2025 recipient of the Justice Centre’s George Jonas Freedom Award for defending freedom of expression.
