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Student groups and post-secondary institutions gearing up for the next academic year are in the dark about what a controversial and rigorous set of freedom of speech rules known as the Chicago Principles will mean for Alberta campuses come September.

In May, the UCP announced its intention to follow in Ontario’s footsteps by introducing the principles, developed by the University of Chicago in 2014. They allow speakers on campuses to share their views, no matter how “unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive” they may be.

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“University is the only place and the only time oftentimes that people have to really engage in thoughtful and meaningful dialogue,” Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said last week in his first interview with Postmedia since being sworn in on April 30. “And we want to ensure that’s the very heart of the whole academic experience …”

Nicolaides — who has hailed the principles as the “gold standard” — said last Tuesday universities can expect further details in the next couple of weeks. He hopes to work with post-secondaries in a “collaborative and collegial manner” and does not anticipate penalties for institutions that do not comply, unlike in Ontario.