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Most Albertans support free speech protections on university campuses, but younger people more cautious: poll

Overall, less than two-thirds of Albertans believe the province should make changes to protect free speech on post-secondary campuses

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An overwhelming majority of Albertans agree that free speech is essential and a variety of viewpoints should be welcomed on university campuses, but government intervention on the matter is a more polarizing topic, a new survey suggests.

An online survey of 1,002 Albertans conducted by Leger suggests upwards of 80 per cent of Albertans agree or strongly agree that universities should ensure free speech, but less than two-thirds (64 per cent) believe the provincial government should make changes to protect free speech on post-secondary campuses.

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“There really is an appetite for letting speakers and professors speak their minds on campus . . . there’s 81 per cent who say universities should make sure that all topics and points of view are allowed, and I think that’s a very strong message,” said Ian Large, executive vice-president for Leger in Alberta.

Poll comes in wake of UCP implementing so-called free speech report cards

The new data follows controversy earlier this month surrounding a contentious planned talk by former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson at the University of Lethbridge. The appearance by Widdowson, whom MRU fired in 2021 after she questioned the Truth and Reconciliation Committee’s labelling of residential schools as an act of genocide, was opposed by roughly 2,500 students who signed a petition to cancel her speech. Widdowson had planned to speak on “woke” policies at universities and their threats to academic freedom.

The ensuing discord prompted a UCP promise to implement so-called free speech report cards for publicly funded post-secondary institutions provincewide, a move the university-aged population may be more reticent about than other Albertans, the poll suggests.

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Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Advanced Education, makes a funding announcement at SAIT on Monday, October 3, 2022.
Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Advanced Education, makes a funding announcement at SAIT on Monday, October 3, 2022. Gavin Young/Postmedia

While 64 per cent of poll respondents support the province moving to protect free speech on Alberta campuses, only 57 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 share that opinion. Middle-aged demographics’ support sits around 66 per cent, and it is 67 per cent for those 55 and older.

“A lot of the pressure to limit speech on campus, to bring these issues to the fore and to be conscious of the audiences and the lived experiences of the audiences, tends to be concentrated with younger people,” said Large. “We didn’t break it up specifically, but I’m going to bet that it’s particularly concentrated with students in that age category as well.”

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Views differ depending on political affiliations

The difference is even starker between NDP and UCP supporters. While a majority of those intending to vote for either party want to see government intervention on the matter, likely UCP voters outweigh their NDP-leaning counterparts 78 per cent to 53 per cent.

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“It’s by no means a slam dunk that the conservative side of the ledger is pro-free speech and the progressive side thinks there should be controls on speech,” said Large. “You still have 53 per cent of NDP supporters say that the government should move more strongly to protect (free speech) . . . that speaks volumes about the issue.”

Across the board, young people are more cautious than their older counterparts about free speech at post-secondary institutions, the poll suggests.

Seventy-three per cent of respondents aged 18 to 34 say all points of view, besides hate speech, should be welcomed on campuses, while older demographics’ support of that statement is higher — in the low- to mid-80s, percentage-wise. Further, 53 per cent of respondents in the younger age group say certain contentious viewpoints should be barred from post-secondary schools, while older groups ranged from the mid-30 to low-40 per cent range.

Leger says that as a web-based, non-random survey, no margin of error is reported, but if it were collected through a random sample, the margin of error would be plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20.

mrodriguez@postmedia.com

Twitter: @michaelrdrguez

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