Carleton Lifeline sues university

A Carleton anti-abortion group is suing the university for $225, 000 over allegations of discrimination. Last October, members of Carleton Lifeline were arrested after they displayed graphic images of aborted fetuses in the university’s busy Tory Quad. The university had declined a request to set up the display in the Quad, and, instead offered the group alternate space. When Carleton Lifeline ignored the university and set up the display in the Quad anyway, several group members were charged with trespassing.

“Carleton University’s decision to have Carleton Lifeline arrested, charged with trespassing and fined was excessive, unjustified and constituted an attempt to bully, intimidate and censor them,” the statement of claim filed by group members Ruth Lobo and John McLeod reads. The students’ statement of claim challenges the university’s reasoning for denying them space, pointing to graphic displays by animal rights activists and those who organize Holocaust awareness events. “Carleton University sought to censor Carleton Lifeline on the basis of their message and not their medium,” the claim states.

In a written statement, cited in the Ottawa Citizen, Carleton plans to “defend itself vigorously against the claim.” The university added that, “Carleton remains a marketplace of ideas, a place where members of the community can debate and discuss a full range of issues and ideas.”

Photo: Ottawa police arresting Carleton Lifeline members in October, courtesy of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform