Montreal colleges dispute findings of government investigation
Benoit Morin says the months-long probe exacerbated tensions at Vanier College, which has been under scrutiny since last fall due to complaints that diverging perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war had created an unsafe atmosphere on campus.
"I do think that the investigation raised questions that created an environment in which teachers may ... doubt what they will be teaching," he said in an interview. "And that in itself can affect the quantity and the quality of academic freedom that we see in our environment."
Quebec's Higher Education Department last week published the results of its investigation at Vanier and Dawson colleges, which pointed to a number of issues, from the sale of kaffiyehs on campus to language classes focused on Palestinian culture, which it said are causing strain among students and teachers.
Both Morin and Diane Gauvin, the director general of Dawson College, are now raising doubts about some of the report's findings, including that the two schools are not fully respecting the province's secularism rules.
The investigators claimed the presence of prayer rooms at the colleges could foster radicalization and divisions between students. They also questioned other religious accommodations at the schools, including absences for religious holidays.
Morin said he has not seen evidence of radicalization at Vanier, which has had a prayer room for Muslim students for more than two decades.
"There are 80 languages spoken at Vanier, which is a great strength," he said. "Vanier has been at the forefront of adjusting and adapting to the evolution of our society."
In a statement, Gauvin said Dawson has prayer rooms for Muslim, Jewish and Christian students, which she said do not contravene Quebec's secularism law.
Quebec has barred elementary and high schools from making space available for students to pray, but that rule does not extend to colleges and universities.
Gauvin said more than 98 per cent of religious accommodations granted by Dawson are to Jewish students.
The government's investigation was launched in late November, shortly after a pro-Palestinian student strike at several post-secondary institutions in Montreal, during which Dawson cancelled classes and closed its campus in an effort to protect students' welfare.
"The findings raised in the report are very clear, highlighting an accumulation of factors that have fuelled tensions between groups of students, but also between teachers," the office of Higher Education Minister Pascale Déry said in a statement.
"Our hope is that all those involved, including the schools' senior management, will take the situation seriously and work with us to re-establish a healthy climate."
Morin did not deny that tension exists at Vanier over the conflict in the Middle East. But he said the government's intervention came as a surprise.
"The investigation itself created a focus on certain tensions and those tensions might have been exacerbated by everything around the investigation," he said. "All in all, [Vanier] is a great place to be. It's a great college."
WATCH | Why the Quebec government thinks secularism is being undermined at colleges:
Tensions at colleges linked to lack of secularism, Quebec says. But is that a problem?
7 days ago
Duration 1:56
A new report from Quebec's Ministry of Higher Education looking into tensions at Dawson College and Vanier College says some student groups and religious accommodations may be partly to blame.
The report focused in part on pro-Palestinian student groups, and said colleges lack the power to intervene in the activities of student clubs.
It also recommended that the government adopt a new law to regulate academic freedom in the college system.
The investigators found colleges have little control over course content, and pointed specifically to two classes at Dawson and Vanier that focused on Palestinian culture, despite being billed as language classes. They recommended that the expectations for language courses be reviewed.
"Academic freedom does not justify activism or the promotion of ideologies in any form," the report says.
But Morin said teaching staff should be trusted. "Probably one of the worst ways of containing academic freedom is by creating an environment in which teachers will self-impose censorship," he said.
Gauvin also raised doubts about the need for more oversight of course content. "I believe that there is a lack of understanding about competency-based education, and I am unaware of any difficulty of courses to meet the competencies," she said.
Morin said he received the report last Friday, half an hour before it was made public, and after news articles had already been published about its findings. But he said he was pleased that it recognized the college's dedication to providing a safe environment for students.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
30 minutes ago
- CTV News
Many public servants ran for federal office in the spring — only one of them made it
Caroline Desrochers, Liberal member of Parliament for Trois-Rivières, is seen in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Caroline Desrochers (Mandatory Credit) OTTAWA — Out of the many federal public servants who ran as candidates in the last federal election, only one was elected: Caroline Desrochers, the Liberal member of Parliament for Trois-Rivières, Que. Originally from Montreal, Desrochers worked at Global Affairs Canada for almost 25 years; her first posting was in Haiti. She later worked for about a decade on Canada-U.S. relations and was posted to New York during U.S. President Donald Trump's first mandate. During that time, she worked on the first round of tariffs and the renegotiation of the North American trade pact. 'I always knew one day I would want to do that,' Desrochers said of entering politics, adding that she was interested in doing work that felt closer to people. 'For me, it was important to have a solid experience to come and do this kind of work.' Desrochers ran for the Liberals in the La Prairie riding in 2021 but was defeated by Bloc Québécois candidate Alain Therrien. Desrochers said her experience in dealing with the Americans on steel and aluminum tariffs and her outreach with the U.S. Congress will be valuable in this 'consequential' moment. She said she's also interested in working on economic development and industry issues, noting the presence of a federal port and a large steel and aluminum industry in her new riding. This is the first time the Trois-Rivières riding has been held by a Liberal since the 1980s. It has been held most recently by Conservative, Bloc and NDP members of Parliament. The Public Service Commission of Canada gave 54 federal public servants permission to run in the recent federal election. Federal government employees who want to run in federal, provincial, territorial or municipal elections need to get permission from the commission, said a commission spokesperson. Before that permission can be granted, the commission has to be satisfied that there are no risks to the political impartiality of the public service. More federal public servants showed interest in running in the recent election than in previous years. The commission received requests from 65 public servants for permission to run in the 2025 campaign — 11 later withdrew their requests. The commission received 29 requests from public servants for permission to run in 2021, and 44 in 2019. The commission granted 38 requests in 2015 and 12 in 2011. The commission says it doesn't have data on the total number of requests filed in those years. While she's keen to work on economic issues and housing — she's now parliamentary secretary to the minister of housing and infrastructure — Desrochers said she also wants to be part of ongoing conversations about modernizing the public service. While Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the election to 'cap,' not cut, the size of the public service, most departments and agencies have since been asked to find program spending cuts of up to 15 per cent by 2028-29. A recent report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said the public service could shed almost 60,000 jobs over the next four years as Ottawa looks to cut costs. Desrochers — who worked on transforming Global Affairs Canada before the election — said she believes the public service needs to be trimmed down to make it more efficient. She said that complex processes and multiple levels of bureaucracy are slowing down the work of government. 'We owe that to the Canadian public, to be more efficient in how we do things,' she said. Reducing the size of the public service will be 'a dance' and will 'take some coordination,' Desrochers said, because people retiring or leaving for other opportunities may not be working in the places where cuts are most needed. Desrochers also said that the ratio of executives to non-executives is 'quite high' in some departments and the plan seems to be to cut back in that area as well. The Carney government has struck a new cabinet committee focused on government transformation. Desrochers said she already has started to engage with colleagues on that committee. 'It's important that we get it right,' she said. 'I hope it can be a constructive conversation also with the public service.' Desrochers said there will also be a 'conversation' if some departments are unable to achieve their targets without cutting essential items and services. She said some departments may be able to cut deeper than others, which could allow other departments to make smaller cuts. Desrochers said her main focus when Parliament returns will be housing, particularly for students. She said she's also working on the new Build Canada Homes initiative promised by the Liberals during the election. Desrochers said the government is exploring options for Build Canada Homes, which could become a separate agency or a unit within Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada. 'We're going to start doing work right now with what we have already, the programs that we have, and then we're going to see about what's the best governance of it, but our goal is really to not create more layers of bureaucracy and approvals,' she said. 'This is why you do politics … to work on something that is going to have impact on people. And so, I think to have the privilege of working on that is really, it's really awesome.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 11, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press
National Post
30 minutes ago
- National Post
Christopher Dummitt: Judge brought politics through the back door in Toronto bike lane case
The recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court rendering the removal of Toronto's bike lanes unconstitutional recalls the great Dr. Seuss book Oh, The Thinks You Can Think. Just think how we could change Canada if we take the logic of this ruling and keep going. Article content Oh, the thinks we could think. Article content Article content The case, Cycle Toronto et al. v. Ontario, parsed the Ford government's decision to close bike lanes on several Toronto streets. A group of cycling activists protested the closure, claiming that closing the bike lanes would not improve traffic congestion (as claimed by the government) and, most importantly, that it would harm cyclists. Article content Article content This last point was key as it was central to the cyclists' argument that the removal of bike lanes would infringe their Section 7 Charter right to 'life, liberty and security of the person.' Article content Article content Justice Paul Schabas sided with the cycling activists. He didn't state that bike lanes were a right, rather, that removing bike lanes would violate the rights of cyclists, as their evidence showed that they would be more likely to be injured and or killed on roads without separated bike lanes. Article content On the messy question of balancing interests between cyclists and drivers, and the different priorities of government, the judge seems to have simply relied on the expert testimony provided to him on road safety and traffic congestion — as well as his own wise opinion on how to interpret it all. Article content Reading the ruling takes me back to my university political theory days and to Plato's Republic with its philosopher kings. But here it's made modern — a vision of government via technocratic expertise, refracted through judicial wisdom. Article content Article content Imagine what other controversial political questions could be answered by experts and judges without the messy interference of politicians and democracy. Article content How about Premier Doug Ford's choice to raise the speed limits on some highways? Experts have already warned that higher speed limits lead to more traffic fatalities. This initiative might be considered unconstitutional if we apply the reasoning in the Cycle Toronto ruling. Article content But why stop there? Let's go to federal politics. The Carney government has said that it isn't going to expand pharmacare. But won't this damage Canadians' health? Couldn't this, too, be said to infringe upon our wildly expanded notion of Section 7 rights to 'life, liberty and security of the person'? Article content Perhaps Ford shouldn't have been allowed to let alcohol be sold in Ontario's grocery stores and convenience stores. If this leads to higher rates of alcohol use, especially among youth, and we know that alcohol is bad for our health, then this policy can be said to have harmful effects. Article content If you really wanted to think big about our Section 7 rights, even Canada's national defence policy can be considered harmful to Canadians. Too much spending might risk a greater chance of war and harm. Or, it could be that not enough spending risks conflict. It's hard to know. Luckily, according to the logic of the Cycle Toronto ruling, we don't need to worry. We can just rely on the expert class — overseen by a benevolent judge — to decide for us. Article content This ruling doesn't come out of nowhere, of course. The debate on judicial activism is longstanding in our post-Charter Canada — on how much or how little deference judges should give to parliaments. Article content But it's worth noting that the judges and the experts who testify before them don't come out of a vacuum. These are real people with individual political preferences. We already know the lopsided, left-leaning world of the university from which our 'experts' emerge. This kind of political skew misshapes peer review and undermines the expertise that judges rely on in court. Article content Law schools are, sadly, no different. Law schools like the one at Queen's led the way in erasing John A. Macdonald from its building a few years ago. And before he became a judge, Justice Schabas himself led the charge to modernize and decolonize the Law Society of Upper Canada by switching its name to the Law Society of Ontario. He was also involved in mandating Ontario lawyers to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Article content It would be a lot easier to trust judicial oversight if it were, in fact, neutral. But rulings like Cycle Toronto show how a judge can work politics through the back door of judicial activism. In the process, they wildly inflate the notion of rights far beyond anything that was imagined back when the Charter was created in 1982. Article content Journalist Andrew Coyne recently said that he is a critic of the 'notwithstanding clause,' that section of the 1982 Constitution that allows governments to temporarily override Charter rights. He says he much prefers Section 1 of the Charter, the 'reasonable limits clause,' which requires that judges place reasonable limits on Charter rights. The clause would ideally safeguard us from rights-based extremism in the courts, which could prevent society and government from functioning collectively. Article content This is an entirely defensible position. But it depends on judges having a cautious approach to new rights claims. It depends on judges realizing that overriding policy set in the courts should be the very last resort. It depends on a ruling like Cycle Toronto being overturned and being seen as the political overreach that it very clearly is. Article content
National Post
30 minutes ago
- National Post
Michael Taube: The Longest Ballot Committee is annoying, but that doesn't mean it's undemocratic
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is running in a federal by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot. Advance voting begins on Friday, and he should win quite comfortably on Aug. 18. Article content Article content The Longest Ballot Committee has attempted to flood ballots in seven targeted federal ridings (and one Ontario riding) since 2019. This activist movement is critical of Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system, and has signed up candidates to defend a single issue: why Canada should shift to a more fair and balanced political model of proportional representation. Article content Article content Has this campaign worked? They claim it has. In reality, its impact bas been negligible at best. Article content The Longest Ballot Committee, through its association with the now-defunct Rhinoceros Party, attempted to set a Guinness World Record during the 2019 election with the 'longest ballot papers in history.' They targeted then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer's riding of Regina-Qu'Appelle. It was a failure: Scheer earned over 63 per cent of the vote, and only two of the eight candidates were aligned with them. Article content The Longest Ballot Committee had 15 of the 21 candidates running in St. Boniface-St. Vital (2021 election), 33 of 40 candidates in Mississauga-Lakeshore (2022 by-election) and 42 of 48 candidates in Winnipeg South Centre (2023 by-election), but the Liberals held all three seats. It also flooded two 2024 by-elections in Toronto-St. Paul's (77 of 84 candidates) and LaSalle-Émard-Verdun (79 of 91 candidates). The voters shifted to a Conservative and Bloc Quebecois candidate, respectively, for reasons that had nothing to do with proportional representation, however. Article content Article content Nevertheless, this movement has suggested it played a pivotal role in Poilievre losing his seat in Carleton in this year's election. 'This one-of-a-kind campaign has been a whole lot of fun and we want to thank again all of the volunteers, candidates, and supporters who made this year's longest ballot possible,' spokesman Tomas Szuchewycz told the Canadian Press on April 30. 'It's been a success,' said one candidate, Mark Moutter, who went off on a tangent and remarked, 'I've never seen people looking more optimistically at electoral reform, ever.' Article content
