Conservative MP Garnett Genuis accused a student group at York University of attacking free speech after he was denied permission to hold an event there — but the university's student centre said politics had nothing to do with its decision.
In a social media post late Wednesday, Genuis said his event at the Toronto campus was cancelled "due to a decision of the student union not to allow it."
The post didn't cite any reasons given for the cancellation but described it as "further attacks on free speech."
The president of the York Federation of Students, the university's student union, said Thursday morning her group has no authority to book or cancel events. Somar Abuaziza said she had no knowledge of the planned event before being contacted by media outlets.
After speaking with The Canadian Press, Genuis clarified it was the York University Student Centre that denied the event and said he was told it was because of the format.
Genuis has been touring university campuses, where he's been striking up conversations with students about youth unemployment and affordability issues.
He said the goal is to "gather information that I can use in Parliament" as his party's jobs critic.
"Gathering information about the issues and challenges that young people are facing is a critical purpose of this, and also being able to share a little bit about what we're working on in terms of the Conservative youth jobs plan," he said.
In tour videos posted to social media, Genuis can be seen sitting at a table in a public area next to a banner that asks students if they're better or worse off than their parents' generation. The events are co-ordinated with the help of local campus Conservative groups.
Genuis said the student centre at York wouldn't allow a guest speaker to sit at a table.
"They said if you want to be talking to students, you need to book a closed space for that conversation to happen. So my position is that that's not reasonable and that doesn't allow for the kind of free exchange of ideas about issues that has happened on many other campuses," Genuis said.
He said York is the only campus that told him the event had to be in a closed room.
"There's a responsibility at public institutions for the actors that control those spaces to allow those conversations to take place," he said.
The student centre's executive director, Jason Goulart, said in an email that the event was not approved because of booking policies and the decision "was not politically motivated in any way."
"The organizers of this particular event simply did not provide enough detail for us to adequately assess the type of programming, appropriate channels and venue required," he said.
Goulart also said the organizers were welcome to reapply for the event at any time.
When asked if he had evidence the event was blocked because of politics, Genuis said, "I think it would be interesting to see if a politician of a different perspective would be treated in the same way or not, but what I can say is that I think anybody should be able to do this."
Genuis's initial post on X garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Thursday, with nearly 600 comments by mid-afternoon.
Some commenters called on the Alberta MP to take the university to court for barring conservative speakers.
Fellow Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner posted on X to call for York University to be defunded.
A spokesperson for the university said it had no knowledge of any event planned by Genuis before his social media post and does not speak on behalf of the student centre, which is responsible for bookings in its own spaces.
"York University is committed to the principles of lawful free expression. We welcome respectful dialogue and have hosted members of Parliament from across the political spectrum on our campuses," said Yanni Dagonas in an emailed statement.
Genuis said he does want to find a way to engage with students at York in the future.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
