Call comes after triple stabbing at University of Waterloo
TORONTO _ A free speech expert says post-secondary institutions should be reassessing security measures in the aftermath of a triple stabbing at an Ontario university to ensure they remain safe spaces to foster debate and challenge conventional thinking.
A professor and two students were injured this week after a stabbing during a gender issues class at the University of Waterloo. Police have called it a hate-motivated attack.
James Turk, the director of the Centre of Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the attack should be an urgent reminder for universities and colleges to ensure their campuses remain places where discussions on controversial topics can be had safely and freely.
Turk says universities have a long history of trying to overcome polarization by addressing difficult topics head-on and violence like what was seen at the University of Waterloo on Wednesday is rare.
Waterloo Regional Police have charged a 24-year-old recently graduated student in the stabbing, alleging it was a planned and targeted attack motivated by hate related to gender expression and gender identity.
Universities Canada says post-secondary institutions are places for learning, respect and understanding, and it is critical to stand up against all forms of hatred and intolerance.
