Sydney Strodecke was blindsided when she arrived at her Kelowna campus yesterday; she tearfully watched pro-life demonstrations and the pro-choice counter protest from a picnic table by herself.
Emotions were running high at Okanagan College when the Kelowna Right to Life Society demonstrated on campus.
Students hung purple sheets and signed banners to create a wall blocking the graphic images of aborted fetuses carried by the pro-life group.
“I am here to protest my right to a harassment-free work environment which I am not receiving,” Sarah Goulet, a student organizer said.
Students were more upset by the imagery being shown then the group actually being on campus. However, the Kelowna Right to Life Society said it uses the pictures because they are shocking.
“We’re here to show the truth about abortion, which is an act of violence that kills an unborn child and the pictures that we are showing prove that fact,” Marlon Bartram, Executive Director of Kelowna Right to Life Society said.
Some students are upset with the college over the demonstration and the images that accompany it and have complained to administration. But the college says it’s hands are tied. As a public institution, the college must respect both sides of the contentious topic.
“The college is obliged to stay within the bounds of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and therefore it’s not our position to tell what groups can and can’t come on campus,” Phil Ashman, Regional Dean, Kelowna Campus, said.
Organizers said although heated words were exchanged between the opposing groups, the demonstration did not escalate any further.