Students defend use of tool blades against campus security’s urgings to leave them at home
Photo by Megan Lambert/The Cascade
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. (CUP) — Security at the University of the Fraser Valley are facing the question of how to deal with students who carry knives while on campus after a student complained about someone with a blade on their belt.
Michael Martin and Daniel Holmberg carry knives as tools used to “trim loose threads, eat, and (open) packaging.” Holmberg’s is a folding utility knife, and Martin’s is a hunting knife designed for slicing—he uses it to skin moose in the fall.
According to Martin and Holmberg, knives should be seen as “multi-purpose tools,” and not weapons. Martin also suggests a knife might be an heirloom and a source of familial pride.
But while the two men use their knives for harmless tasks, not all students are comfortable with the sight of a knife on the belt of a fellow student.
Section 86 of Canada’s Criminal Code states that only specific knives are illegal to carry, such as switchblades, stilettos, and blades that retract and protract automatically.
Head of UFV security Mike Twolan has extensive experience dealing with citizens carrying knives during his career in the RCMP and as head of an airport security team.
Twolan notes the line between using a knife as a tool and using it as a weapon is relatively clear: If you mean to use it as a weapon, it will be treated as a weapon.
But the situation is different on campus, he says.
“If (a student) is intimidated by you carrying a knife, then you are not allowed to carry it,” he says.
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He notes that if a student is making others uncomfortable, they are technically violating student policy by harassing other students. Because of this, the university has the authority to ask students not to bring their knives to campus as sanctions can be imposed.
Martin says if a student is made uncomfortable, they might simply “attempt to open a dialogue about the legality of carrying knives and the way (they) use the knives.”
Holmberg had been carrying a knife for two years before he was approached by a member of UFV’s security team, who asked him to remove the knife from his belt and keep it out of sight. Holmberg did not comply, concerned about breaking the law by hiding the knife.
“The law regarding knives is that they cannot be concealed,” Martin says. “In a pocket, it counts as a concealed weapon.”
According to Twolan, the legality concerning concealed knives is a grey area, as Canadian law focuses on the ability to prove intent.
In order for a student to be doing something illegal, the court would have to prove that they intentionally concealed the weapon, rather than being asked by security to conceal it.
Twolan says a knife should not be present in a learning environment like UFV unless it is required for your trade. For students, this means not using a knife where a pair of scissors can do the trick.
“You don’t want to be sitting behind a student who you know is carrying a knife,” he says.
—With files from Sasha Moedt
