Dr. Thomas Flanagan was forced to retire from his professorship at the University of Calgary due to his advocacy that viewing child pornography should not be a crime. A day before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Rebel Media-backed Canadian Students for Free Speech hosted Flanagan at a Charlie Kirk-style table where he questioned whether residential schools consisted of genocide.
What was significant about this event was the mass, spontaneous opposition that arose from UCalgary students. A large crowd of around 100 people gathered to boo and heckle Flanagan, telling him to ‘get off the campus’. As the mood of the crowd intensified, one student poured water over Flanagan’s head. They were roughly apprehended by Flanagan’s private security while campus security stood by and did nothing. The table debate was ended soon after.
A group of students has since formed a Discord server for the organization of a protest against the University administration that allows people like Flanagan to spew their reactionary ideas. During our interventions in this movement, Calgary comrades have witnessed a significant development of consciousness at UofC.
When asked what he thought about residential school deniers being allowed on campus, a student said “it’s disgusting—it’s the same thing they’re doing with the genocide in Gaza, denying that it’s happening so they can keep doing it”.
Another student recognized that “the University’s definition of ‘free speech’ allows genocide denialism while criminalizing the Palestine encampment.”
Yet another told us that “this event, in light of the Cornell case, reveals that universities, regardless of how public they are, are multi-billion dollar corporations—which require corruption.”
Many students in this group are also affirming that this event demonstrates the need to fight the UCP’s referendum and Alberta separatism as a whole.
This spontaneous upsurge of consciousness is immensely encouraging; the mood of students on campus reflects a desire to prevent reactionaries from having any kind of platform on campus, as well as a growing desire to challenge the system that allows violence and hatred of all forms to run rampant across the world, in all areas of their lives.
– Fable D., Calgary
