OTTAWA, Ontario, November 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Despite a motion being introduced into the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) to amend a policy that forbids pro-life clubs, a representative from CUSA has again defended their decision to decertify Carleton Lifeline.
Khaldoon Bushnaq, CUSA’s vice president of internal affairs, wrote the club on Thursday to reiterate that they will not be approved unless they remove their pro-life beliefs from the club constitution. “We have invited Carleton Lifeline to submit a constitution that does not violate our Constitution and Bylaws so that they may be considered for clubs status for the semester,” he wrote.
His statements were made the same day that reports surfaced that a motion had been introduced in CUSA to change their policy against pro-life clubs.
In response to Bushnaq’s remarks, the club has launched a legal challenge. “This needs to be challenged,” said Ruth Lobo, Carleton Lifeline’s president. “They are blatantly discriminating against the pro-life students, and effectively trying to silence the pro-life message at Carleton University.”
Last Thursday, Bushnaq told the club that they would not be recertified because their constitution violates CUSA’s Discrimination on Campus Policy, which affirms “a woman’s right to choose.”
On Monday, the club’s lawyer, Albertos Polizogopoulos, told CUSA that this policy is “incongruous in that it purports to protect individuals from discrimination but in effect, calls for the discrimination of some.”
Polizogopoulos wrote back to Bushnaq yesterday, acknowledging that Lifeline's constitution does, in fact, violate the CUSA discrimination policy, but insisting that “the fact remains that it is an illegal policy.” He noted that the policy violates CUSA's own constitution – which protects students from discrimination based on “political affiliation or belief”– as well as Carleton University policy.
“As such, it has no force or effect and ought not to be enforced,” he maintained.
The club, four members of which were arrested on campus last month as they attempted to erect a pro-life display, has gotten a boost of hope with the news that a student is bringing forward a motion at CUSA’s council to amend the policy, though its chances of success are uncertain. That motion will receive a vote in December.
Lobo, a fourth year student in the human rights program, said it’s “hypocritical” that Bushnaq advertised this motion to the media and at the same time sent the club a letter saying CUSA would enforce the policy. “I think it smacks of hypocrisy,” she said. “We were hoping that they would realize that they have violated their own policies.”
The club will be applying for a judicial review before a panel of judges at the Ontario Divisional Court. The court will be asked to rule on whether CUSA’s Discrimination on Campus Policy violates the CUSA Constitution.
Contact Information:
Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and Vice-Chancellor
503 Tory Building
1125 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Tel: 613 520-3801
Fax: 613 520-4474
Email: [email protected]
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Hope for threatened Carleton pro-life club as new motion introduced
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10111810.html
Carleton pro-life student group loses club status
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/nov/10111606.html