A Good Shepherd For Free Thought

I must admit that I don't keep up with happenings in my home and native land nearly as well as I once did. The other day I was speaking with my brother Ezra who asked me if I heard about Lindsay Shepherd. I told him I had not. He informed me that she is a teaching assistant at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario who was interrogated last month by campus officials because she played a video clip during her Canadian Communication in Context tutorial session which featured Jordan Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto.

Peterson became a vociferous opponent of the Trudeau government's Bill C-16 which was passed earlier this year. This legislation amended the Canadian Human Rights Code to provide transgendered persons protection against discrimination. But what it also did is make it an offense for those who declined to use transgendered pronouns (i.e zhie and zher). For his public stance, Peterson became public enemy number one in Canadian academia and, for that matter, the Canadian Left.

So because Shepherd played a video clip from in which Peterson debated his point of view on the subject, her academic supervisor, her program coordinator and the university's "Gendered Violence Prevention and Support Program" summoned her to a meeting and accused her of making students uncomfortable, creating a toxic environment, violating the Canadian Human Rights Code and, for good measure, likened playing Peterson's remarks to that of Hitler. Somehow TV Ontario's The Agenda with Steve Paikin fails to conjure up images of the Third Reich.

It all sounds hard to believe, but Shepherd adroitly recorded their conversation. If you have about 45 minutes you can listen to all the sordid detail.

During the course of this inquisition, Shepherd is crying but manages to maintain both her dignity and more than holds her own with her inquisitors. When the audio was released both her academic supervisor and the University's president and vice-chancellor were compelled to issue mealy mouthed apologies.

Since this incident, Shepherd spoke at a campus free speech rally, presented a petition to the university to adopt the University of Chicago's Principles of Freedom of Expression, conducted numerous interviews and launched a Twitter account which is fast approaching 25,000 followers. However, Shepherd has indicated that she is persona non grata by many at the Laurier student body who don't think the administration should have apologized to her at all and is unsure if she will remain.

If Shepherd sees fit to leave Laurier, the loss is Laurier's. I suspect there are a few academic institutions who believe in freedom of expression that would welcome her with open arms. One could see Shepherd as someone who campaigns for the University of Chicago principles to be adopted on campuses across North America. Whatever she chooses, Shepherd may now have the kinds of opportunities she would never have dreamed of had she not played that three minute video clip of Jordan Peterson.

On a personal note, I nearly attended Laurier. It was one of three universities to which I applied in my last year of high school. Ultimately, I picked Carleton University in Ottawa. At the age of 19, I took four second year political science courses. People thought I was nuts. They thought I was even nuttier when I debated professors and students during lectures. Looking back on it now, I have to admit I was a colossal pain in the ass. I can't think of anybody who I didn't make uncomfortable. If I were an undergraduate today, I probably would have been summoned for expressing unsavory thoughts on the first day of class. I couldn't imagine being in Lindsay Shepherd's shoes. But her shoes seem firmly grounded.

This isn't to say everything is peaches and cream for her. I'm sure this was the last thing she envisioned the morning of her tutorial. All of which will take time to process and find the best path forward. I suspect we will be hearing a great more from Lindsay Shepherd in the months and years to come. In which case, the public square is bound to become a better place where debate and discussion flow freely. She may very well become a good Shepherd for free thought in the West.