Less than a month after speakers were assaulted at a CSFS debate in Calgary, a panel on free expression at the University of British Columbia went ahead under heightened security.

VANCOUVER: The Democracy Fund (TDF) is pleased to announce that Canadian Students for Free Speech (CSFS), TDF’s national campus initiative, hosted “No Safe Spaces: A Discussion on Free Expression at Canadian Universities” at the University of British Columbia on Monday, October 26, 2026. The panel was co-organized with the Free Speech Union of Canada and drew around 30 students and guests.

The speakers were the Honourable Stockwell Day, former Leader of the Official Opposition and former federal Minister of Public Safety, and Kate Marland, a lawyer and Executive Director of the Free Speech Union of Canada.

The panel discussed the state of free expression on Canadian campuses, the federal Combatting Hate Act (Bill C-9), and the role of provincial human rights bodies in regulating speech. A question-and-answer session with the audience followed.

The event took place less than a month after a CSFS debate at the University of Calgary on September 29. At that debate, a masked individual poured water over Dr. Tom Flanagan and journalist Drea Humphrey, and the event was ended for safety reasons. Because of that incident, organizers kept the room location private until the UBC panel began, and campus security was present throughout. Organizers said critics of the speakers were welcome to attend, and the event proceeded as planned.

Universities exist for the purpose of testing contested ideas through argument and evidence. Section 2(b) of the Charter protects freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, and s. 2(c) protects peaceful assembly. Neither protection depends on whether an audience finds a speaker comfortable.

Whether the Charter governs how a university restricts student expression is still unsettled in British Columbia. On June 10, 2026, the B.C. Court of Appeal restored Charter claims brought against UBC by a campus student club over a cancelled event, and that case will now proceed.

TDF Executive Director, Mark Joseph, said: “Students at UBC came to hear a former cabinet minister and a constitutional lawyer talk about free speech, and the organizers had to keep the room a secret to make that possible. No student group should need a hidden venue and a security detail to hold a panel discussion on a Canadian campus. The Charter’s protection of expression does not depend on whether the audience agrees. Canadian Students for Free Speech will keep bringing open discussion and debate to campuses across the country.”

William Diaz, TDF’s National Campus Coordinator, who organized the event, said: “We want to host speakers from across the spectrum, and anyone who disagreed was welcome in the room. When people stop talking to each other, that’s when violence happens. Freedom of expression belongs to everyone; it is not a partisan issue. Our next step at UBC is a debate between people who genuinely disagree, because that is how a campus is supposed to work.”

TDF launched Canadian Students for Free Speech in July 2026 to establish student-led free speech clubs and host open debate on post-secondary campuses across Canada. CSFS plans to return to UBC with a debate between a supporter of Marxist economics and a supporter of capitalism. Students interested in starting a recognized club on their campus can visit studentsforfreespeech.ca.