Open this photo in gallery:
Author and former University of British Columbia professor Steven Galloway, second from right, and his wife Katie Wagner, front left, leave B.C. Supreme Court with two unidentified people, in Vancouver, on Oct. 6.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
A separate campaign to pressure the University of B.C. into overhauling how it handles sexual-assault complaints following multiple allegations against a PhD student in its history department was intensifying around the time allegations against bestselling author Steven Galloway exploded, an advocate for victims of sexual violence testified Tuesday.
Glynnis Kirchmeier testified in her own defence in B.C. Supreme Court as to how, in the fall of 2015, some in the school community began conflating her efforts and those of others to hold the university to account with a separate push by a former student to get the university to investigate allegations Mr. Galloway sexually harassed and sexually assaulted her.
Mr. Galloway, who was the chair of UBC’s creative-writing program, launched a lawsuit against almost two dozen defendants in 2018. He claims that a woman, known as A.B. because of a publication ban on her identity, made allegations that ruined his reputation, cost him his job and destroyed his personal life.
Tuesday’s testimony painted a picture of an institution embroiled in scandal at the dawning of the #MeToo era and a growing call for systemic change across society to combat sexual violence.
Ms. Kirchmeier told the court that as she held a Nov. 22, 2015, press conference about the complaints related to the history student, local media asked about Mr. Galloway, who the university had announced four days earlier it was suspending because of “serious allegations.”
UBC paid accuser to join Steven Galloway inquiry, court hears
She testified the university was also fielding questions from the CBC’s the fifth estate about an episode involving the history student that was set to air at the end of November, with other outlets also contacting the CBC wondering if the coming TV documentary promoted by the national broadcaster involved Mr. Galloway.
“The journalists who came to the press conference – which took place at the UBC campus – I do recall some asking if Mr. Galloway was included in the documentary, but one of the other women said ‘no,’ and ‘we don’t know anything about that,’” said Ms. Kirchmeier, who participated in the CBC documentary.
Ms. Kirchmeier testified that she first met A.B. in the spring of 2016 and began helping advise her how to hold the university accountable.
Only A.B., Ms. Kirchmeier and two others are on trial. The rest have settled with Mr. Galloway, who has never been charged with a criminal offence and has always denied he sexually assaulted A.B., with whom he was having a two-year affair.
Ms. Kirchmeier, who is attending law school in the United States, is representing herself in the trial and claiming a defence of fair comment against Mr. Galloway’s assertion that her 2018 post on the social-media site X, then known as Twitter, defamed him. In that tweet, she called out The Walrus magazine for publishing a news feature for which, she testified, she believed that Mr. Galloway was the main source.
“That piece said Galloway had an ‘affair,’ which we now know is what he calls raping/sexually harassing a student. But it set the narrative for 1 + year,” the tweet read.
Ms. Kirchmeier contends that, per the Chicago style citation guidelines she used as a history student, the slash in that tweet meant either sexually assaulting or harassing a student not both acts, which Mr. Galloway’s lawyers reject.
The cross-examination of Ms. Kirchmeier by Daniel Coles became heated in the afternoon when he brought up personal e-mails between her, A.B. and fellow defendant Mandi Gray, a Trent University assistant professor of criminology. In those e-mails, Ms. Kirchmeier vented about the findings of former B.C. Supreme Court justice Mary Ellen Boyd, whom the school hired in late 2015 to investigate A.B.’s allegations.
Public relations expert tells court Galloway bungled response to sexual assault scandal
In 2016 Ms. Boyd found that, on a balance of probabilities, it could not be established that he committed sexual assault or assault, but that he had sexually harassed her and committed other misconduct.
During cross-examination, Mr. Coles read out one of Ms. Kirchmeier’s e-mails: “This all sucks. SG sucks. UBC sucks. Boyd’s a shill. The Walrus is nasty and uncritical.”
Mr. Coles then pressed her on whether she believed UBC hired the retired judge “for a predetermined outcome.”
Ms. Kirchmeier said she did, based on her experience with another investigation into the allegations into her fellow history student.
Earlier in the day, Ms. Kirchmeier detailed how she made efforts to influence the university.
On Nov. 10, 2015, Ms. Kirchmeier sent an open letter to her network of students and professors in the history department, from which she had just graduated, calling out UBC for not acting on complaints about a male PhD student that stretched out over years, which led to more women becoming his victims, she told court.
Her letter found its way into the inbox of Mr. Galloway’s accuser. The next day, A.B., a former creative writing student, forwarded it to Mr. Galloway and another senior professor in her program, Ms. Kirchmeier testified.
Witness testimony is expected to finish this week, with the trial resuming Friday when UBC’s then-dean of arts Gage Averill takes the stand at the behest of the defence.