An event featuring a controversial speaker at the University of Lethbridge on February 1, 2023, has been cancelled. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

University of Lethbridge cancels event featuring controversial speaker

Jan 30, 2023 | 4:52 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – An upcoming speaking engagement in Lethbridge with a controversial host will no longer be happening.

Frances Widdowson was set to speak at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday.

Public backlash followed the announcement of the event given Widdowson’s opinions on matters such as residential schools and the Black Lives Matter movement.

A petition on Change.org that sought to cancel the event has been signed by nearly 2,000 people.

U of L president and vice-chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon issued an updated statement on the event, saying, “To ensure our community is safe, in the context of this planned lecture, the University will not provide space for this public lecture to occur on campus.”

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Mahon had previously emphasized the need to protect free speech and expression on campus, even though Widdowson’s “views are in conflict with a number of the values held by the University.”

He now says in the updated statement:

“Over the past few days, and upon learning of this lecture, we have sought guidance from those with considerable cultural, scholarly, sectoral and legal expertise, including continuing guidance from the Vice-Provost, Indigenous Relations and others. We have also received considerable input from the communities we serve — internal and external. This input confirmed that assertions that seek to minimize the significant and detrimental impact of Canada’s residential school system are harmful.”

Mahon adds that the U of L’s Blackfoot name is Iniskim, meaning Sacred Buffalo Stone. He says the institution is committed to the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and that, “It is clear that the harm associated with this talk is an impediment to meaningful reconciliation.”

The U of L developed a Statement on Free Expression in 2019, which acknowledges that the university “must be able to reasonably regulate the use of facilities, time, place and manner of expression.”

The full statement from Mahon can be found on the U of L website.