Since passing a motion last January supporting the decisions of student unions province-wide to ban anti-choice groups on campus, the Canadian Federation of Students has been attacked for disregarding the free speech rights of opponents of abortion.
In the past year, a host of student union groups have cited the motion when barring anti-choice groups from sanctioned club status and union funding at several universities, including York and Lakehead.
On Oct. 1, the University of Guelph Central Student Association executive refused to recognize the student group Life Choice, arguing that the their mandate runs contradictory to CSA’s policy supporting the reproductive rights of women. Life Choice, for its part, is free to organize on campus, but does not receive support from the CSA.
“CSA recognizes that there are responsibilities that come with the right to free speech. It is not a right that can be used as an excuse for not respecting the right of women to control their own bodies,” reads a statement from CSA responding to accusations denying Life Choice the right to free expression. ”Though Life Choice members have a right to hold these opinions, it is not the responsibility of the CSA to support them since we are a pro-choice organization.”
The CFS motion has prompted concern from religious groups as well as other pro-life groups on campus.
CFS-Ontario chairperson Shelley Melanson dismissed the free speech allegations by explaining that the motions passed by the federation are not binding, as CFS has no control over the resources or the local spending of its members.
“We support the democratic decisions the student unions take,” she says, likening the motion to the vote against the code of student conduct at the University of Ottawa. She adds, “We don’t have the capacity to ban anything. We have no authority over the decisions of local student unions—we are not involved in the approval of clubs.”
“People have come up to me and said, ‘How could you ban pro-life groups?’ but in reality that’s not what we have done,” Melanson says.
Talitha Kozak, President of the U of T group Students for Life, voiced alarm at the motion, saying that the majority of CFS members are pro-choice, imposing their views on a pro-life minority that deserves democratic protection.
Despite this, she is not worried about losing club resources, since Students for Life is already not supported by UTSU. “Generally we don’t apply for funds from the student union,” she said, adding, “Though it is possible that it could happen here, because this university is a larger institution with such a diversity of clubs, such a motion would be harder to enforce.”
