This article originally appeared in the National Post. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Andrew Irvine, April 24, 2025
The petition I and others filed earlier this month asking the Supreme Court of British Columbia to require administrators representing the University of British Columbia to stop engaging in political activity has begun to generate discussion.
According to a press release from the BC Civil Liberties Association, the lawsuit “is a perverse interpretation of the prohibition of political activity under the University Act.” The authors go on to assert wrongly that we are using our submission as part of a “hidden agenda” in an attempt to “override” rights of Indigenous self-governance.
According to a press release issued by the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, our case in favour of academic freedom represents “outdated and regressive views” and that “There is no academic value in debating the validity of First Nations’ basic human rights.”
These organizations misunderstand our position. We take no position on land acknowledgements, other than that they are political in nature. Our case in no way attempts to override or diminish Indigenous rights.
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Andrew Irvine teaches at the University of British Columbia and is a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
