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Hundreds show up to protest Widdowson’s presence at U of L, again
By Lethbridge Herald on February 6, 2026.
Herald FIle photo
Former Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson takes part in a discussion on February 2023, while surrounded by some of the hundreds of students and community members who opposed her visit. A protest was held on Wednesday again at the U of L over her presence.By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
On Wednesday hundreds gathered at the University of Lethbridge atrium, to protest the presence of former Mount Royal University professor Francis Widdowson, who had previously been protested against in February 2023, also on a Wednesday afternoon.
This time around members of Lethbridge Police were present working alongside Campus Safety to keep all in attendance safe.
The University of Lethbridge shared a release about the incident stating that at approximately 11 a.m., an individual (Widdowson), who has recently caused significant disruption at other Canadian universities, began engaging members of the University of Lethbridge community in a public space on our Lethbridge campus.
“Throughout the day, the safety and well-being of those on our campus was our top priority. Campus Safety, in coordination with Lethbridge Police Service, implemented measures to keep all those in attendance safe throughout the afternoon.”
The University shared that the disruption utilized significant university and community resources and when it became clear the interactions had no defined end and that continuing to deploy resources in this manner was not sustainable, the University issued a trespass notice to the individual (Widdowson) at approximately 5:15 p.m.
“Universities are places where controversial ideas should be examined and critiqued through rigorous, evidence-based inquiry. In this instance, the University provided room for those in attendance to express their viewpoints and for those viewpoints to be contested.”
The University has communicated about this event directly with students, faculty and employees. And they will continue to do so in the days and weeks ahead.
In 2023, Widdowson was uninvited by the university for a public speaking engagement following outcry over her controversial views on the residential school system, but she decided to show up anyway.
When Widdowson entered the atrium, she was received by loud boos of disapproval. Many people were wearing orange shirts, holding signs and shouting.
In 2023, Chief Safety Officer Doug Mackie announced to those in attendance that Widdowson had agree to leave, as long as they made room for her to walk away, this year she was escorted out by Lethbridge Police.
As of the time of publication, charges have not been laid but the investigation was ongoing.
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I would like to comment but it would not get approved/ posted until the article is removed from your website As I said before-your paper is pathetic and totally biased. It’s unfortunate in a democratic society that the vast majority of the MSM media has been taken over by the left. To them there is no free speech.. only their speech.
It’s too bad that the people working for these leftist wouldn’t learn to think for themselves and consider another viewpoint!
Food for thought.
https://open.substack.com/pub/blendrnews/p/the-seven-types-of-people-in-evil?r=55mgwz&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Actually last summer the “ lie “ ended. No fanfare though. The federal government quietly closed down the investigation into the supposed mass murder of Indian kids at residential schools. No more funding .Many , open minded never believed the lie. That was not allowed though. There were attempts to make it criminally illegal to speak or think against the lie. Sadly the lie is still , obviously perpetrated and promoted at university level. A place of learning. Critical thinking. Factual discussion. Scientific facts. A place to debate. Discern fact from fiction. The residential schools were not always good. Many kids ,though , came from a much worse environment. The residential schools were there to teach and care for the kids. Much good happened there. Nobody wants to hear that or talk about that though. Too many mindless emotional actions. That’s exactly why Ms. Widdowson was prevented from participating in a rational discussion.
My first thought was ‘one again the cancel culture cancels free speech’, even though I do not agree with what she stands for in her misguided beliefs and opinions . . . THEN I saw that she was not invited to speak there, she just came uninvited to spew her hate!
BUT . . . then again, the pro-Palestinian protesters just showed up as well, uninvited and encamped at some universities, spewing hate, disinformation and even burning our flag . . . and were allowed to do so for weeks on some campuses. Where were all those protesters when Iran was gunning down protesters in Iran, with estimates of over 30,000 killed on the streets and thousands more while detained . .. over 350,000 were incarcerated in centers where they face torture . . . where are all those protesters for these people? Oh wait . . . Iran, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood were funding the protests in Canada and the US, so of course they are not going to fund the paid protesters to protest themselves slaughtering their own people!
One would think campuses who have educated people on them, who know how to separate facts from disinformation/propaganda . . . but it is evident that foreign influence on our campuses is very much alive!
I just fail to understand why this person was ‘trespassing’ yet the pro-Palestinian protesters who called out ‘death to the Jews’, ‘death to Canada’, ‘we are Hamas’, and burned our flag were allowed to continue on campuses, encamped for several weeks!!! ???
I do believe we need to reflect on free speech vs hate speech!