Big news out of Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) — a legal win in a settlement between a pro-life student and the students’ union!
Talia volunteered with Toronto Against Abortion, and started TMU Against Abortion (formerly Ryerson Against Abortion) while she was an undergraduate student. She experienced severe discrimination at her university, being excluded from certain events and services where she should have received support, simply because she shared her pro-life beliefs elsewhere on campus. I saw some of this discrimination first-hand, and spoke with Talia about her legal complaint at the Canadian Religious Freedom Summit in Ottawa in 2023.
Her complaint was filed back in 2017 for events beginning in 2016, but she stuck through it all the way to the end and reached a settlement that changes the situation at TMU for pro-life students. While denying any wrongdoing, the students’ union agreed in the settlement to repeal the long-standing policy banning pro-life clubs on campus – a policy that had withstood a court challenge in 2016 – and they also committed to training on discrimination, including on pro-life beliefs grounded in creed.
What a win! Especially given what our team has faced at TMU over the years. Although TAA was not a party to the litigation, we’ve been following the case closely.
Freedoms Advocate, who represented Talia, has the details on their website, and this National Post article covers the story in detail.
TAA continues to run regular outreach at TMU, in collaboration with TMU Against Abortion – the club that Talia founded back in 2016 while she was a student. Thanks to her perseverance, barriers have been removed for pro-life students for years to come at TMU, as we continue to change hearts and minds on abortion.
