A Wilfrid Laurier biochemistry professor is challenging the Waterloo Region District School Board in court, arguing the board’s mandatory use of land acknowledgments violates his Charter rights and unlawfully prohibits debate.

Geoffrey Horsman, a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate council, filed an application for judicial review in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s Divisional Court through his lawyer Thursday. It is a process to test if an administrative decision is fair, reasonable and lawful.

The application argues that the board’s mandate requiring land acknowledgments be read at all council meetings violates his right to freedom of conscience guaranteed in the Charter of Rights, and that the order to prohibit debate infringes on his freedom of expression.

“It really

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