By Murray Sherriffs
Quebec universities are sounding the alarm over the Legault government’s proposed constitutional Bill 1, warning that it would curb academic freedom and punish administrators who launch legal challenges using public funds, as did Concordia and McGill did in fighting the government’s tuition fee structure.
The Bureau de coopération universitaire (BCI), which represents all Quebec universities, has submitted a brief to the National Assembly committee which is studying the bill, saying that a challenge could result in a person being held personally liable for any legal costs, thus creating a strong disincentive to act, out of fear of personal liability and create “…a climate of institutional self-censorship that conflicts with the principles of university governance.”
BCI is also concerned that the bill gives fundamental rights, equality, political and judicial rights and linguistic rights power that could not be easily overridden by regular laws passed by the National Assembly.
Several legal and human rights groups are also concerned about restricting the ability of public institutions to challenge laws.