UTMSU and UTMSFL to be questioned this week

UTMSU and UTM Students for Life will soon face each other in court as legal questioning begins this week.

In January, UTMSFL filed a suit against UTMSU with claims that the union denied their group club status and funding due to their pro-life views, claims that UTMSU has neither confirmed nor denied since the suit was launched.

According to UTMSFL president Diane Zettel, both UTMSU and UTMSFL will be questioned by their lawyers on Tuesday, and lawyers representing UTMSFL anticipate that a court date will be set in June.

“We have not heard […] anything directly from UTMSU,” said Zettel in an email to The Medium last week, who confirmed that the group continues to remain active on campus amidst the legal suit. “We table as a club every week. We engage students in discussion about life issues and abortion.”

UTMSFL is currently a registered ULife student group recognized by U of T.

When asked to confirm if UTMSU would be participating in legal questioning and who from UTMSU would be questioned, UTMSU president Ebi Agbeyegbe did not provide comment on the matter.

“There are new developments in the case,” said Agbeyegbe in an email to The Medium on Friday. “We are speaking to our executive committee and confirming with our lawyers the details of everything before we can speak to the matter.”

The suit also mentioned the Canadian Federation of Students, a national student advocacy group UTMSU is currently a member of. Lawyers representing UTMSFL claim that the CFS has previously “passed a motion encouraging its member student unions not to recognize student clubs with pro-life views” and cite the motion as being passed back in 2008.

The Medium is unable to independently verify any of the legal claims made by UTMSFL and the CFS has not responded to multiple interview requests.