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EDMONTON — Alberta’s top court will hear a case on Wednesday that could help determine the power of the “heckler’s veto” on Canadian campuses after a university handed a $17,500 security bill to students who wanted to hold an anti-abortion rally.

The fee was proposed after an earlier rally was disrupted by pro-choice counter protesters. In response, Amberlee Nicol, the president of UAlberta Pro-Life and Cameron Wilson, the group’s treasurer, sued the University of Alberta over what they see as a simple free-expression issue. After the student group lost in a lower court, they appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal.

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The university says that the anti-abortion display was designed to provoke a response and that the security costs are reasonable, while UAlberta Pro-Life says the steep bill amounts to a “prohibition” on their speech.

“This is a terrifically important case for a number of reasons,” said Micheal Vonn, policy director for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, which is acting as an intervener for the two student protesters. “The university is penalizing not the people who … attempted to prevent the other people from speaking, but they’re going to penalize the people who spoke.”