Canadian Universities Defend Their Move to Block Free Speech and Peaceful Protests on Their Property
By Bobby Kushner / February 8, 2026KITCHENER, ONT. – The University of British Columbia adorned on January 20 its Indian Residential School History & Dialogue Centre with orange Every-Child-Matters t-shirts, slogans and massaging to dissuade the public from allowing Frances Widdowson, Jim McMurtry, Dallas Brodie and their supporters from engaging with them about the falsehoods of First Nation residential schools and the flawed Every Child Matters social movement.
The next day, Frances Widdowson, a former political-scientist professor, saunters to the university’s Indian centre donning two sandwich boards with facts about the 215 unconfirmed bodies at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The large-framed Andrew Brougham, a Vancouver podcaster, dwarfs the protesters as he guards Widdowson from the mob accosting and blocking her from reaching the centre.
A few protesters shove Widdowson and shout, “Stop pushing people,” as they sound their whistles and alarms to further intimidate Widdowson and dissuade her from engaging with the public.
A male protester then charges at Widdowson and shoves her, Widdowson eyes the male and flashes a mock grimace before Brougham steps in and foils the protester’s second attempt to shove Widdowson.
Canadian universities and colleges bar speakers access to their property if those speakers expose the deceptions of liberal policies, social-movements and government programs. Deceptions also promoted by Canadian conservative groups and parties.
So the JCCF, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom, filed suit in December 2025 against the University of Victoria to contest Widdowson’s $115 trespassing ticket and set a legal precedent for free speech and peaceful protest at government-funded universities and colleges in Canada.
The Background of Widdowson and the JCCF’s Suit against the University of Victoria
The university claims its property is private, which exempts it from following the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and allowing free speech and peaceful protests on its property.However, Widdowson and the JCCF claim the university’s property is public because it receives government funds to operate, so the university must follow the Canadian Charter and allow free speech and peaceful protests on its property.
Widdowson’s Account of the Prejudice from Canadian Universities and Police Services
“Typically, the police separate the opposing groups in protests, so free speech may occur from all sides without violence,” Widdowson said.“However, since I started in 2020 to attend universities across Canada to inform the public about the falsehoods of resident schools, the police allow the rioters to assault me and my supporters then arrest us, not the rioters, when the rioters become more violent.
“So the police always accommodate the rioters, not the peaceful speakers like myself and my supporters, because the universities invite counter-protesters from both inside and outside Canada to confront us then trespass us, never the rioters they invited.
“ . . . Since the universities always cancel our bookings or hand out reprisals to any professors inviting us to speak, we just host our events in the areas of these universities where the public has unrestricted access.”
Dallas Brodie’s Involvement with the 215 Unproven Bodies
The topic of the 215 unproven bodies resurged in the media after criminal lawyer, James Heller, filed suit against the Law Society of British Columbia for publicly naming Heller a racist when he confronted the law society for its courses asserting as fact the 215 child graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.The topic gained even more publicity when John Rustad, the former leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia, ousted Dallas Brodie – a Vancouver-Quilchena MLA, criminal lawyer and now OneBC Party leader – from his conservative caucus after Brodie publicly supported Heller’s defamation suit against the law society.
Brodie said, “All law society courses and material need to be based on facts, not rumours and popular opinions. So yes, I decided to speak out about the misinformation and support James Heller, a criminal lawyer who defended numerous indigenous defendants throughout his career.”
James Heller’s Dispute with the Law Society
Heller perused a law society manual titled “Indigenous Intercultural Course.” The manual discusses the history and legacy of indigenous legislation and residential schools, and the law society requires all British Columbia lawyers to study it to retain their law license.He formally requested the law society to change the factual errors in its manual regarding the Kamloops Indian Band discovering 215 child graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Heller also included in his requested amendment an appellate ruling on the matter from British Columbia Chief Justice Leonard Marchand, also indigenous.
The Chief Justice’s Appellate Ruling on the 215 Unproven Bodies
In July 2024, Chief Justice Marchand ruled in Miranda Dick’s appeal, No bodies were found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The burials and deaths are still unconfirmed, so British Columbia Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick presented no prejudice or factual errors about the residential-school burials or the accused, Miranda Dick, before sentencing Dick to 28 days in jail for violating an injunction, a court order, to not obstruct the construction of the trans-canada pipeline or endanger the safety of its pipeline’s workers.To read more about residential-school policies, click "The Kamloops Residential Indian School Resurges in the Media for Unexpected Reasons"
The University of British Columbia’s Protesters Later Riot
Later on January 22, the protesters swarmed Widdowson to over-run and trample her before Stuart Parker – a writer, activist, former British Columbia Green Party leader and now Widdowson and OneBC supporter – shouted at them, “Are you really here to beat up an old woman!”The protesters cheered at their rioting and shouted back, “No space for hate! OneBC, get the f--- off our campus!”
Parker then smirked and shouted back at the protesters, "Your campus! I thought, It was unceded indigenous land?”
The mob near Parker then aimed their air-horns at him and blasted them in his ears.
A known communist activist, Matthew Kneller later assaulted Jim McMurtry, a OneBC candidate and former highschool math teacher, and Dallas Brodie as McMurtry, Brodie and their supporters fled to the university’s aquatic centre to escape the rioters. The rioters then yelled, “OneBC, get the f--- off our campus! Where you running!”
Another communist activist, Jay Tang then rushed in and assaulted Andrew Brougham before Tang cowered behind the females in the riot and shouted, “You assaulted me! Got it all on camera! F--- you, you’re not welcome here! Your views are unacceptable. Come on and fight! Get the f--- off of my campus!”
The University of British Columbia’s Distorted Account of Widdowson, Brodie and the Riot
Stephen Kosar, an editor for the University of British Columbia’s newspaper the Ubyssey, dons a mock war-correspondent vest as he wanders the riot. Masha Kleiner, a OneBC researcher and writer, approaches Kosar.“Do you agree that the protest disrupts free speech?”
“As a journalist, I can’t take a position,” Kosar said.
“Can we agree that it is very noisy right now, which makes it hard for us to have this conversation?”
“People might have different perspectives on this,” Kosar smirked.
“It's so noisy that it's hard for you to hear what I am saying, isn't it?”
“It can be,” Kosar said.
“And what’s the reason for the noise?”
“Unfortunately, we, as journalists, cannot take sides,” Kosar said.
However, a day prior to the riot, Kosar published a misleading article about Frances Widdowson, Dallas Brodie and their supporters, so Stephen Kosar operated here as a shill for the flawed social movement, not an impartial journalist.
Stephen Kosar’s article before the riot "Shows of Solidarity Planned as Residential School Deniers Seek to Hold Event on Campus"
Kosar also published a day after the riot another misleading article about the group and sympathized with the university’s protesters and rioters.
Kosar’s article after the riot "Amid Chaos and Violence, Hundreds at UBC Show Solidarity with Residential School Survivors"
Brodie Outmanoeuvres the Rioters in Debate
The rioters now cornered Brodie and argued with her, and she genuinely engaged with them.However, after the mob mocked Brodie, urged her to abandon her security to assault her then asserted fallacies to defeat her arguments – Brodie, being a skilled litigator, outmanoeuvred with ease the fallacies of those rioters.
As a result, the mob grew frustrated with Brodie and shouted, “F--- you, your views are unacceptable! We don’t debate hateful views! Not here to Charlie Kirk with you! You’re not welcome here! OneBC, the f--- off our campus! Why you here with security?”
The RCMP Assert Its Decision to Not Arrest Any Rioters
Hal Hewett, a heavy-duty mechanic and welder, meet with the RCMP after the riot to inquire why the police overlooked the violence from the university’s rioters.“Can you tell us why the RCMP allowed the rioters to damage our personal belongings, accost and assault us and failed to uphold the laws of our criminal code,” Hewett asked.
“The university is private property,” RCMP staff sergeant Matthew Wrobel said. “so it can allow one-side to protest and not the other, so whatever happened to you guys happened, and you’re free to file an RCMP complaint.”
“You not concerned your members allowed such lawless to occur from the rioters, regardless of the violence occurring on private property.”
“We managed the situation as best we could,” Wrobel said.
The Conclusion to the University of British Columbia Riot
Benoit-Antoine Bacon, the university’s president, approached Widdowson and asked her to leave the property.When Widdowson refused, the RCMP carried Widdowson off the property as the rioters cheered at her departure. The police then placed her in the back of a police vehicle without handcuffs.
Inside the vehicle, Widdowson grinned at the rioters before the vehicle pulled away.
Later, the rioters swarmed Dallas Brodie, Andrew Brougham, Stuart Parker and their supporters to accost and assault them as the police escorted them on transit buses, and the buses pulled off.
Bobby Kushner, a screenplay, feature and public-relations writer in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. To work with Kushner or pitch your story ideas, contact him at kushnerbobby@gmail.com or 226 - 220 - 4961
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Frances Widdowson, a Canadian political scientist and writer about Canadian indigenous governance
Gabrielle WeaselHead, an indigenous studies professor at Mount Royal University.
Chris Hedges photo taken from ineteconomics.org
Chris Hedges photo taken from apbspeakers.com
Victor Hanson photo taken from PBS Frontline
Victor Hanson photo taken from hoover.org
Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan photo captured by Toronto Sun's Greig Reekie
Jean Chretein and Bill Clinton photo taken from CBC
Bill Clinton photo captured by Paul J. Richards and taken from Getty Images
Mark Carney and Doug Ford photo captured by CBC's Holly Cabrera
James Heller, a British Columbia criminal lawyer
Dallas Brodie, a British Columbia criminal lawyer, MLA and OneBC party leader
Leonard Marchand, a British Columbia Chief Apellate Justice
Michelle Stirling, a Canadian researcher and writer on the confederation and formation of Canada
Frances Widdowson, a Canadian political scientist and writer about Canadian indigenous governance
Nigel Biggar, a University of Oxford theology professor and historian
Tomson Highway, a Canadian playwright, author and composer
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