Political scientist Frances Widdowson was arrested under the Trespass Act, issued a violation ticket, and released
Photo by Ethan Barkley.
Former Mount Royal University (MRU) professor Dr. Frances Widdowson was arrested again at UVic’s campus last week.
Widdowson, who was fired by MRU in 2021 for allegedly creating a toxic work environment, livestreamed an appearance at UVic’s quad on Tuesday afternoon. Widdowson wore a wig and hat during the university’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation gathering to question what she calls the “Kamloops 215 deception” — the 2021 announcement by the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation that they discovered more than 215 suspected unmarked graves on the site of the former Kamloops residential school.
Her firing from MRU was found to be “disproportionate” to her conduct by an arbitrator in 2024.
She was previously arrested in December 2025 under the Trespass Act when she took part in an unsanctioned event on UVic’s campus alongside members of the right-wing provincial party, OneBC, but her charges were stayed in June 2026.
She was also previously arrested for trespassing at the University of British Columbia and the University of Lethbridge. She now seeks $3 million in damages from the Lethbridge university in a defamation lawsuit filed last month.
On her X account, Widdowson shared a letter she received from UVic Campus Security (CSEC) prior to her visit stating that her restriction from entering campus –– communicated to her by CSEC in December –– was still in place, and informing her that violation of that restriction would be regarded as trespassing.
She also said in a video posted the morning of Sept. 29 to X that she was on UVic’s campus “the whole day” before her visit.
Saanich police confirmed in a statement that their officers arrested one individual who had previously been prohibited from UVic’s campus and refused requests to leave under the Trespass Act.
Her visit came days after over a dozen members of the white nationalist group Second Sons appeared on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc reserve. Members of the organization wore masks, and one pretended to dig in the ground below an overpass, atop which other members carried a banner that read “Got Bones?”
Widdowson is not affiliated with the Second Sons, but critics have pointed to both as evidence of a growing residential school denialist movement on the right wing of Canadian politics.
K’sana Wood Lynes-Ford, Firekeeper of the Native Student Union (NSU), told the Martlet that they were warned of Widdowson’s presence ahead of time, and remained in contact with CSEC to protect Indigenous students on campus.
UVic “worked really hard to make the Truth and Reconciliation Day events safe for Indigenous students,” Lynes-Ford said.
In August, Conservative MLA Harman Bhangu pushed to remove the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) from provincial legislation. Bhangu’s move came after Premier David Eby made multiple efforts to both change and pause DRIPA.
Lynes-Ford said she thinks Widdowson’s presence “highlights … growing anti-Indigenous racism, not only on campus but also in the political landscape.”
In the days leading up to Widdowson’s appearance on campus, she posted repeatedly about the university on her X account, including screenshots of posts about National Day for Truth and Reconciliation made by the university over the years, and one heavily edited image depicting herself in a pillory, being pelted with oranges by gathered students.
She also used her X account to personally identify members of UVic faculty she believes are responsible for the “deception,” deriding some as “censorious” and another as a “totalitarian.”
Following her arrest, Widdowson also attempted to identify an individual UVic student, alleging they threw a beverage at videographer Simon Hergott, and shared photos that appear to show this. Widdowson also alleged the student struck Hergott multiple times and damaged his camera.
Times Colonist reported a student threw kombucha at Hergott, and pushed him multiple times before being restrained.
Saanich police did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding whether additional arrests had been made following the incident.
Widdowson alleged that the student was “encouraged by @uvic President Robina Thomas in December 2025.”
Hergott was previously attached to a documentary project about the 2021 Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc discovery in collaboration with right-wing media organization Juno News, but the project was dropped after Canada’s National Observer reported his personal YouTube channel featured videos containing anti-semitic claims, mirrored phrasing used in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, and referred to First Nations as “fraudsters.” The videos have since been made private, and the channel they were posted to is unavailable.
The comments under the post containing photos of the alleged student contain calls for violence against them, alongside sexist slurs.
Widdowson said they have reported the individual to police and intend to “press charges.” In B.C., the decision whether to charge suspects is made by Crown counsel, based on a recommendation from law enforcement.
In a statement following Widdowson’s arrest, a UVic spokesperson said its “focus remains where it belongs: on Survivors, families and communities, on the truths they have carried and shared, and on our responsibility to listen and learn.”
The UVSS lead directors said in a statement they were “were honored to witness and reflect on the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation and to give the day the full attention and respect that it deserves.
“The person who visited campus sought to take attention away from the day; thankfully, their attempt failed,” the statement reads.
The directors said decolonization remains a core priority of theirs, and that they are happy to connect students with support resources.
