Former Professor Frances Widdowson Arrested at University of Lethbridge Cafeteria

Frances Widdowson, a former associate professor in the department of economics, justice, and policy studies at Mount Royal University in Calgary, in an undated photo. Courtesy of Frances Widdowson

Former Mount Royal University professor and free speech advocate Frances Widdowson was arrested at the University of Lethbridge this weekend, marking the third time police have removed the academic from a university campus since last December.

The University of Lethbridge said in an emailed statement that Widdowson was arrested on April 25 for trespassing after violating a legal order prohibiting her from going on campus grounds.

Officials said she was removed from the premises and received a ticket for trespassing.

In recent years, Widdowson, a prominent free speech advocate, has been travelling to university campuses to have conversations questioning claims of unmarked graves of children at former residential schools, and to engage students in debate.

Her latest arrest was captured on video and posted to social media by several sources, including Widdowson herself, who recorded a nearly hour-long montage from the time she entered the campus parking lot until she was back in her vehicle after police released her.

The university issued a campus-wide alert earlier in the week after learning Widdowson planned to meet with a student in the campus cafeteria, saying there are concerns about safety risks or disruptions linked to her presence.

Widdowson was discussing her opinion that claims of a mass grave of children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021 were unsubstantiated, when the police arrived to arrest her.

Videos showed two Lethbridge police officers asking her to leave the campus cafeteria. When she refused, the officers each grasped one of her arms and lifted her from her seat.

Widdowson ended up sitting on the floor, where the officers handcuffed her. They then lifted her to her feet and dragged her for several seconds when she refused to walk. Widdowson eventually started to walk, and was escorted to a police van.

“There’s all sorts of propaganda … that’s going on, and it should not be happening at an academic institution,” she said as the officers searched her pockets and confiscated her phone before loading her into the van. “An academic institution is a place where you can explore ideas, you can have free speech.”

“So University of Lethbridge, this is what you’ve done, you have failed...,” she added. The remainder of her words were muffled and unintelligible after the van door closed behind her. The officers then escorted her back to her vehicle off-campus and issued her a $600 ticket. Widdowson said she wouldn’t pay the ticket while live-streaming from her vehicle after her release.

“That’s the first time I’ve been handcuffed. I wouldn’t recommend it,” she added. “I was thinking of letting them pull me out in the cuffs, but I would have injured my arm if that had happened and I don’t want to have a lifelong injury. I think being handcuffed is enough of a statement.”

Her April 25 arrest was Widdowson’s second interaction with police in as many days after she arrived at the university campus the day prior.

The university said Widdowson drove onto the campus on April 24 but was met by police before she could exit her vehicle.

The Epoch Times contacted Widdowson for comment but didn’t hear back by publication time.

Previous Incidents

The formerly tenured professor was fired by Mount Royal University in Calgary in 2021 after she spoke out against “wokeism” and identity politics on her website and on social media.

Mount Royal University alleged she had been involved in fostering a “harassing and toxic workplace environment” and that she had violated the school’s code of conduct and personal harassment policy.

Widdowson, which denies this allegation, challenged the move, filing a grievance against her firing. An arbitrator ruled her dismissal was disproportionate to her conduct, but said it would not be appropriate to reinstate her to her job at the university given the level of conflict between her and others at the school.

Widdowson previously told The Epoch Times she would appeal this decision with the goal of reinstatement. She has said that her firing was a “serious breach of what universities are supposed to be about.”

In a 2020 media publication, Widdowson said the Black Lives Matter movement had “destroyed” the culture at the university. She was also criticized by students and colleagues for her comments about residential schools, including saying they do not constitute genocide.

Widdowson has visited several university campuses in British Columbia and Calgary in recent months in an attempt to start a dialogue with students about the claims of mass graves.

She visited the University of Victoria campus last December for what the university called an unsanctioned event.

Widdowson was arrested by the RCMP while attempting to walk around the university campus wearing a billboard that read “What remains?” She was later released and issued a $115 fine for trespassing.

She said at the time that she and the others went to the campus to explain to students that no bodies have been found at the Kamloops residential school following the claim in 2021 by the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation that ground-penetrating radar had found the remains of 215 children at the site.

She was also part of a OneBC event at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in January to challenge the mass grave claims. The group was met with a large throng of protesters, and the RCMP was also present on the scene.

Widdowson was shown in a social media video being lifted and carried away by three RCMP officers after she refused to leave the campus. She was arrested and later released without charges.