A similar letter to this one was individually sent to all sixty six directors and executive and board members of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA).
[SEE LIST OF THE CCLA MEMBERS BELOW].
From: Jeff Schmidt
Date: Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 9:26 PM
Subject: For The Hon. Edward Broadbent - CCLA matter
To:
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Civil liberties organization director helped to silence university professor
To: The Hon. Edward Broadbent
Dear Edward,
Your name appears on a highly unusual letter from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association justifying the University of Ottawa's firing of a dissident physics professor.[1] It seems odd that a civil liberties organization would take that position -- and do so without conducting any investigation -- until one learns that the organization's director is working for the university (at $182,500.08 per year, 2009 salary) and played a direct role in the firing as the university's vice president for governance.[2][3]
As a physicist and educator, I followed professor Denis Rancourt's innovative teaching with great interest. He pioneered new ways of addressing the well-known problem that students commonly emerge from physics courses without grasping the concepts, no matter what grades they received. One of Rancourt's courses was so popular that it had to be held in the largest auditorium on campus. But his promotion of student activism and his outspoken criticism of undemocratic university practices drew the ire of administrators, who subjected him to an escalating series of repressive measures, such as taking away his large classes, and ultimately fired him.[4][5][6]
The university's pretext for firing Rancourt was that he gave all high grades in a small class for advanced physics students, and that the students didn't deserve those grades, something that Rancourt disputes. At every major university, there are professors who routinely give all high grades in such classes and are never even questioned about it, but Rancourt was fired for doing it one time in a 23-year teaching career. Freedom-of-expression advocates across North America see the grading issue as a pretext for getting rid of a dissident professor. Every independent party that has studied the case -- except for your organization -- has found the grading to be a false pretext.[6] Your organization, however, all-too-conveniently chose to accept the university's position as fact. Thus, CCLA refused to investigate Rancourt's firing and the role of CCLA director Nathalie Des Rosiers, because, in the words of CCLA board of directors chair John McCamus, "a university disciplining a professor for giving A+ grades to all of his students regardless of the merits of their work is not a matter that necessarily raises either academic freedom or civil liberties issues."[1]
I don't think that I will be the only one to see CCLA's position, as expressed in the letter on which your name appears, to be a poorly disguised excuse to avoid investigating the role of CCLA director Des Rosiers in the firing of Rancourt. I have seen an exchange of correspondence between Des Rosiers and Rancourt related to his firing that establishes that CCLA director Des Rosiers played a direct role, including in banning Rancourt from campus, from his campus radio show, from his cinema discussion series, and from working with his research graduate students. I have also seen documents and media reports that show CCLA director Des Rosiers, as the university's vice-president for governance last year, refusing to investigate a broad, three-year-long university campaign of covert surveillance targeting Rancourt, which the university revealed on 29 September 2009 in response to a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request.[3][7]
Simply put, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is willing to stab a dissident in the back to protect its director. I am going to publicize that unethical behavior, along with the names of any CCLA supporters who decline the opportunity to distance themselves from it. You may distance yourself from it simply by publicly asking your organization to replace its convenient summary judgment with due process, such as an independent investigation in which Des Rosiers recuses herself.
For me to believe that you take this matter seriously, I would need to hear from you, Edward, directly, not through an intermediary. Please, within two weeks, at least indicate if you will be responding. Your considered response can be posted on the various websites where I will be reporting this story.
Best wishes,
Jeff Schmidt
Author of Disciplined Minds
cc: American Civil Liberties Union
References
1. Letter from Canadian Civil Liberties Association to Denis Rancourt, 25 February 2010:
http://rancourt.academicfreedom.ca/Data/Documents/ccla/2010-02-25=CCLA-Letter-from-J-McCamus.pdf
2. Request from Denis Rancourt to all CCLA members, 11 November 2009:
http://uofowatch.blogspot.com/2009/11/call-for-resignation-of-nathalie-des.html
3. Media report about Nathalie Des Rosiers posted by Canadians for Accountability, 27 February 2010:
http://canadians4accountability.org/blog/2010/02/27/cover-ups-101-at-university-of-ottawa/
4. Letter of protest from members of College and University Workers United, 28 February 2010:
http://yahyaottawa.blogspot.com/2010/03/open-letter-to-allan-rock-president-of.html
5. Statement by Denis Rancourt about his dismissal (viewed more than 10,000 times on this web site alone):
http://rancourt.academicfreedom.ca/component/content/article/25.html
6. Academic Freedom website about Denis Rancourt's case:
http://rancourt.academicfreedom.ca/
7. Denis Rancourt's reports, and media links, about the University of Ottawa's 2006-2008 covert surveillance campaign:
http://rancourt.academicfreedom.ca/background/reportoncovertsurveillance.html
LIST OF CCLA MEMBERS:
John Nelligan, Q.C. past president
Harry W. Arthurs past president
Walter Pitman past president
The Hon. Allan Blakeney past president
Marsha Hanen President, BOD
Jamie Cameron VP, BOD
Susan Cooper VP, BOD
Giséle Côté-Harper VP, BOD
Michael de Pencier VP, BOD
Marlys Edwardh VP, BOD
Edward L. Greenspan VP, BOD
Patricia Jackson VP, BOD
John D. McCamus VP, BOD
Delia Opekokew VP, BOD
The Hon. Howard Pawley VP, BOD
Kenneth P. Swan VP, BOD
Dr. Joseph Wong VP, BOD
Sydney Goldenberg Secretary, BOD
Elaine Slater Treasurer, BOD
Nathalie Des Rosiers General Counsel
Frank Addario Member, BOD
The Hon. Warren Allmand Member, BOD
Bromley Armstrong Member, BOD
The Hon. Ronald Atkey Member, BOD
Frédéric Bachand Member, BOD
Joseph Boyden Member, BOD
The Hon. Edward Broadbent Member, BOD
Leah Casselman Member, BOD
The Hon. Saul Cherniack Member, BOD
Dominique Clément Member, BOD
Jane Cobden Member, BOD
Michael Conner Member, BOD
Dr. Debby Copes Member, BOD
David Cronenberg Member, BOD
Fernand Daoust Member, BOD
Brian A. F. Edy Member, BOD
Susan Eng Member, BOD
Mel Finkelstein Member, BOD
Robert Fulford Member, BOD
Vicki Gabereau Member, BOD
The Hon. Constance R. Glube Member, BOD
Katherine Govier Member, BOD
Louis Greenspan Member, BOD
Hussein Hamdani Member, BOD
Shirley Heafey Member, BOD
Harish Jain Member, BOD
Mahmud Jamal Member, BOD
Janet Keeping Member, BOD
Joy Kogawa Member, BOD
Anne La Forest Member, BOD
Cyril Levitt Member, BOD
Andrew Lokan Member, BOD
A. Wayne Mackay Member, BOD
Ken Mandzuik Member, BOD
Jon Oliver Member, BOD
Penelope Rowe Member, BOD
Paul Schabas Member, BOD
Marvin Schiff Member, BOD
David Schneiderman Member, BOD
Eric L. Teed Member, BOD
Walter Thompson Member, BOD
The Very Rev. Lois Wilson Member, BOD
Danielle S. McLaughlin Director of Education and Administration
Noa Mendelsohn Aviv Director, Freedom of Expression Project
Graeme Norton Director, Public Safety Project
A. Alan Borovoy General Counsel, Emeritus
