Still more on pro-life speech at York

With respect to our conversation about pro-life speech, secular universities, etc., a reader sent me this:

I would like to discuss a little bit more about the context of abortion in Canadian Universities.  First off, I am a university student (Laurentian) in Ontario, majoring in political science.  I am a convert to the Catholic Church, and my main interest (as my classmates will attest) has generally been in religion and politics. 

Regarding this whole situation, I think a few things should be included.  One, York is a public university, therefore, it is provided with plenty of public funding.  This primarily comes from the province, since education is constitutionally granted to the provinces.  While we do not have the First Amendment in Canada, we do have Charter protections that do substantially protect many of the same issues surrounding the First Amendment, but they can be limited by legislature when it is deemed appropriate.  While this may seem like that this university would be held to this standard, the courts have ruled that universities are not government institutions.  I am unsure if this a positive development or not. 

Relatedly, York is (I believe) the second largest university in Canada, with the University of Toronto the first,  having approxiamtely 45 000 students.  For the student body to even consider limiting discussion goes against the spirit of the university . . . . 

However, one of the more interesting developments is the response of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).  CFS comprises most of the universities in Canada, with fees costing over $10 a student from each member school.  They are a union that claims to represent the interests of students, yet, there is little consultation between them, various student governments, and students.  To take one example, Ontario recently had a electoral referrendum which asked if voters wished to switch to a mixed-member proportional system.  It was defeated.  However, CFS came out in favor of it and listed Laurentian as a supporter of their position.  Consequently, the school president had to write a letter to the school newspaper stating that they were not consulted at all.  This behavior typifies the CFS and how it treats its members.