The petitioner, Sara Kishawi, was a student at Vancouver Island University (“VIU”). Over the summer of 2024, the petitioner was accused of a series of violations of VIU’s Student Conduct Code related to expressive conduct in support of Palestinian rights. On October 4, 2024, the petitioner was suspended for a period of two years by VIU’s Vice-President of Student Affairs. The petitioner’s internal appeal was denied by VIU’s Vice-President of Student Affairs on March 3, 2025.

Before the BC Supreme Court, Ms. Kishawi argues that the decision was unreasonable and her procedural fairness entitlements were violated. She also argues that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to VIU’s academic and non-academic student discipline and that because VIU’s suspension unreasonably violated her rights to freedom of expression under s. 2(b) of the Charter, it should be set aside on this basis.

The legal issue of whether the Charter applies to public universities, specifically the regulation of on-campus expression, is a matter of unsettled judicial debate across Canada. BCCLA is intervening to argue that where a university’s actions relate directly to the delivery of public education, as in the specific case of student discipline which may impact the students’ access to public education, the actions must comply with the Charter. That universities like VIU are implementing a specific government program when determining access to public education is also reflected in the statutory scheme, which provides these institutions with exclusive authority to grant university degrees.

Additionally, it is established that the Charter right to freedom of expression protects the form, type and method of expression, in addition to the substance. The mere fact that the protest activities on university campuses may breach university rules does not mean those activities are not protected and violations must be justified under s. 1 of the Charter.

Finally, in the context of expression advocating for the rights of a racial, ethnic or religious group, freedom of expression is related to equality rights. Protecting human rights advocacy ensures that all groups protected by the Charter have equal access to human dignity, embodied by the right to free expression.