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The Ontario government announced late last month that taxpayer-funded colleges and universities must henceforth create and enforce policies to protect free speech on campus. While imperfect, the plan is a welcome departure from the deafening silence of all provincial governments, of all stripes, about the sad state of free speech at Canadian universities.

When was the last time that a provincial minister of advanced education even complained (never mind did something) about the abysmal state of free expression at public universities? When last did a government official explain that freedom of expression does not include a right to disrupt, obstruct or interfere with the right of other people to express their opinions?

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It is a huge step forward for Ontario to require that universities incorporate into their own policies the University of Chicago Statement on Principles of Free Expression. Universities must now state expressly, in their own policies, that they are a place for open discussion and free inquiry, and that they have no obligation to shield students from ideas or opinions that students disagree with or find offensive. The government will now require universities to discipline students who obstruct or interfere with the freedom of others to express their views. Each Ontario university must also prepare an annual report on its own progress in complying with its free speech policy, and submit it to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO). Best of all, the government has declared that a university’s failure to introduce and comply with free speech policies may result in funding cuts, proportional to the severity of non-compliance.