A prestigious Canadian university has proudly reaffirmed its commitment to free speech this week, insisting scholars must be allowed to say whatever they like about Residential Schools, no matter how disconnected from evidence, survivors or basic human decency.
The institution, which we’ll call the University of Baffling Contradictions for legal convenience, confirmed it would not intervene when staff describe documented abuses as “overstated” or “complicated”, provided they do so in a very calm voice.
“Universities are places for open debate,” a spokesperson said. “On the one hand you have survivors, records, unmarked graves and decades of inquiries. On the other, you have a guy with a blog. It’s important we give both these perspectives equal weight in the name of balance.”
When asked whether the university would allow similarly “open” debate about, say, the existence of gravity, the spokesperson clarified that some things were settled science.
“We don’t want students falling off buildings,” they explained. “Questioning whether Indigenous children were harmed, however, has no known impact on campus safety—only on Indigenous students, staff and communities. So that’s fine.”
First Nations leaders responded by patiently pointing out that freedom of speech also includes the freedom to face consequences.
“People are welcome to be wrong,” one said. “But if you choose to deny what happened to our kids, don’t be surprised when we use our academic freedom to mark your work ‘Fail’ and recommend urgent remedial history.”
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