U of O Watch mission, in the words of Foucault...

"One knows … that the university and in a general way, all teaching systems, which appear simply to disseminate knowledge, are made to maintain a certain social class in power; and to exclude the instruments of power of another social class. … It seems to me that the real political task in a society such as ours is to criticise the workings of institutions, which appear to be both neutral and independent; to criticise and attack them in such a manner that the political violence which has always exercised itself obscurely through them will be unmasked, so that one can fight against them." -- Foucault, debating Chomsky, 1971.

U of O Watch mission, in the words of Socrates...

"An education obtained with money is worse than no education at all." -- Socrates

video of president allan rock at work

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Carleton University and the University of Ottawa are the worst universities in Canada for free expression -- JCCF 2013 Report

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) released its annual report "The State of campus Free Speech in 2013" (the "2013 Report") on September 24, 2013. JCCF President John Carpay presented the report and its key findings at a public press conference held in Ottawa last night, at the National Archives of Canada building on Wellington Street.

Out of 45 public universities in Canada studied, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa stand out in the 2013 Report as the two worst universities in Canada for free expression (see JCCF News Release).

The individual assessment about the University of Ottawa is on pages 173-180 of the 251-page 2013 Report. The main incidents described in the 2013 Report and which led to the U of O's failing grade (F) for its practices relevant to free expression are:
  • the 2010 Ann Coulter fiasco managed behind the scenes by Allan Rock (link) (link)
  • the 2009 banning by the Rock administration of a student Israeli Apartheid Week poster (link)
  • the 2008 Rock administration's refusal to continue hosting Cinema Politica on campus (link)
  • the 2007 administration's interferences with Canadian Friends of Burma campus event (link)
The grading criteria used were objective and are explained in the 2013 Report.

The 2013 Report also points to a plethora of regressive U of O university policies affecting free expression, for which a grade of "D" was attributed.

The student union at U of O (the SFUO) obtained a grade of "D" but was not cited as one of the worst student unions in Canada.


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