Appeal dismissed after U of L cancelled guest speaker Frances Widdowson

The Alberta Court of Appeal has made its ruling after a guest speaker said she was silenced by the University of Lethbridge.

Frances Widdowson was set to give a speech at the university on Feb. 1, 2023, entitled, “How Does Woke-ism Threaten Academic Freedom?”

The lecture presented a challenge to the political ideology of “woke-ness,” which Widdowson believes has led to an increased frequency and intensity of censorship.

According to documents from the courts, Widdowson “intended to say that woke ideology is hostile to free speech, open inquiry and dissent, leading to ostracization and censorship. She was to say that the purpose of an academic university is to promote rational disputation, even where that is “uncomfortable or politically incorrect”. She intended to say that woke-ness dir