Madam Justice Alexandra Hoy of the Ontario Superior Court ruled Monday April 25, 2005 that York University’s president is not a public official and cannot be sued as such.

 

“The decision is a welcome one because it upholds university autonomy,” said Harriet Lewis, York University Secretary and General Counsel.

This decision follows earlier court rulings, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s, which hold that universities are autonomous entities and their officers and directors are not agents of the Crown.  As Madam Justice Hoy’s judgment stated, "The mere fact that a statute passed by the Legislature of Ontario provides for the office of president of the university to be appointed by the board of governors and accords the president so appointed certain powers in respect of the university community, does not make her a public officer.”

 

“This is a very important decision for York and for many universities,” said Lewis. “It upholds the basic principle of collegial self-governance, reaffirming in Canadian law that universities are not an arm of government and that university presidents have the authority to regulate the conduct of students, who are members of their university community.”

 

Justice Hoy granted the University’s claim to strike a section of the statement of claim brought by a student which alleged that the president occupies a public office and thus committed misfeasance. Justice Hoy ordered that the claim, when amended, shall not include any claims for “abuse of process with a conspiracy to injure”.  The judgment further stated that the core functions of universities are non-governmental and “the government does not have control over how the president regulates a particular student’s conduct.”

 

"I think that this has a wider effect than on our particular lawsuit," said Lewis. “If we had lost, it would have been of concern to many Canadian universities. I am very pleased to see that the court accepted our arguments and upheld our defence of university autonomy.”