Back in April, the New York Times reported that two groups representing Harvard professors sued the Trump administration claiming that its threat to cut billions in federal funding for the university violates free speech and other First Amendment rights. The group’s lawsuit by the American Association of University Professors and the Harvard faculty chapter follows the Trump administration’s announcement that it was reviewing about $9 billion in federal funding that Harvard receives. Earlier in March, the administration admitted that investigators from a branch of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), typically focusing on human traffickers and drug smugglers, had begun scouring the internet for social media posts and videos that the administration could argue showed sympathy toward Hamas. Subsequently, several students were illegally arrested and detained by ICE. Numerous American universities are now under the gun. The result has also been hundreds of protests, including those by students, professors and members of the community at large, against the Trump administration’s threat to further cut funding for universities.
In Canada, the situation is very different. There have also been protests over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, including temporary encampments on campuses. However, the majority were settled peacefully and without most students being expelled or detained. Yes, there is no doubt that some anti-semitism and anti-Islamic activities have occurred on campuses. Moreover, such activities are normally dealt with by the university administrations without needless inference by the authorities. Canadian universities have long professed the need for academic freedom and freedom of speech as fundamental principles for places of higher learning. Most have clear guidelines dealing with on-campus hate messaging, harassment or any form of violence. Should such outcomes occur, it is only then that the authorities would be brought in to determine if any crimes had been committed. So far, this approach appears to have worked well.
Imagine a government sending a school a list of demands that it must meet if it wants to keep receiving funding support! As in the case of the Trump administration, such a list would require the university to examine how teaching staff are hired, the background of potential recruits related particularly to certain types of political activity or views, any suspected possible plagiarism regarding previous papers or dissertations, etc., etc. This would also include current academic staff and administrators. Such interference by governments in Canada would never be tolerated. One would certainly have to deal with many cases of unjust dismissals and discriminatory practices. I very much doubt that any Canadian university would bend to such government pressures, declaring such interference as an attack on academic freedom and their very independence.
The attacks on American universities and blockage of government funding support for scientific and medical research may actually benefit Canadian universities in the long run. This has already happened in a reported case whereby three Yale professors have decided to accept positions at the University of Toronto. One can only speculate that as more R&D projects are halted due to the loss of funding, researchers, including Masters and PHD students, may seek to potentially check out opportunities in Canada and elsewhere. The current leadership of the U.S. in scientific research is now being greatly threatened by such policies.
All in all, no matter the results of the above noted litigation, extensive damage has already been done. The reputations of numerous American universities and their academic freedom have suffered. Fortunately, to date there is no evidence that Canadian governments would want to go down the same road. Canada is very fortunate to have a strong and vital education system, most of which is largely publicly funded and readily accessible to both domestic and international students. Would Canadian universities be susceptible to Trump-like attacks? I believe that the answer is a clear and emphatic “No”.
FROLITICKS 