Hardly a week goes by these days where a university or student union doesn’t find itself embroiled in controversy over an on-campus issue dealing with freedom of expression.

The latest case involves four Canadian universities under fire for inviting Marie Henein, the Toronto defence lawyer who successfully represented former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault case, to speak to students. She is to speak at Bishop’s University in Quebec, with her talk live-streamed to St. Francis Xavier, Mount Allison and Acadia universities

But some students are objecting to the invitation to Henein, claiming it shows poor judgment and will only silence sexual assault victims.

Henein made headlines with her aggressive questioning of three women who alleged they had been assaulted by Ghomeshi. His acquittal sparked outrage among many women, with some accusing Henein of betraying them.

In an article in the St. Francis Xavier student newspaper, Jasmine Cormier wrote that “the safety of students at this school comes first and foremost, and is more important than hosting a woman who has spent her career contesting women who are possible victims of sexual assault.”

The Henein case is just part of a disturbing trend by universities, and especially student unions, to silence controversial speech with which they don’t agree and to cancel appearances by outspoken proponents of a contentious view.

Indeed, the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) earlier this month issued its 2016 Campus Freedom Index. It studied freedom of expression issues at 60 Canadian universities and student unions. It awarded a total of 240 grades, but only six were “A” grades, two fewer than in 2015.

In a world where students are demanding “safe spaces,” are wary of “trigger-warnings” and “microaggression,” it’s important to remember that universities are supposed to be places where free speech, open inquiry and challenging their own beliefs should be paramount.

Michael Goldbloom, the principal of Bishop’s and a former publisher of the Toronto Star, wrote in the Montreal Gazette that how Canada’s criminal justice system deals with sexual assault cases is a difficult issue.

But he also rightly defended the invitation to Henein, saying it is “important that our universities be places where difficult issues can be discussed in an intelligent, informed and respectful way. One of the reasons that we so fiercely defend academic freedom is because we believe that a university must be a place where controversial ideas can be debated.”

Henein has every right to speak as a lawyer, as an expert in sexual assault cases, as a woman. She has done nothing to silence or harm all women. Nor has she or any other female lawyer betrayed her gender in defending men accused of sexual assault.

Instead of demanding that Henein not appear on their campus, students should be willing to listen to what this smart, experienced woman has to say.

Marie Henein need not be silenced.

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