The State of Academic Freedom in Canada

Criticizing one's own university is a part of academic freedom. What happens to academics when they disagree with a policy and wish to engage with it publicly in Canada these days? Apparently writing online the word "Yikes" and defending concepts like impartiality and educational standards is enough to have you forced into a meeting with your Dean at a Canadian university, and more. Unlike in many circumstances where a mobbing occurs and this stirs the pot, no such thing happened here. Dr. Page joined his university to address university standards concerns, and he definitely found some!

What's a university without academic freedom?

After this incident, Dr. Page experienced months of neglect, including taking away one of his courses, eventually leading to the administration pushing him out of his position using a term in Dr. Page's contract about his obligations for in-person teaching (that Dr. Page wanted to do [this was disrupted by U of Regina's COVID-19 policies]) Dr. Page defended for months his students to ensure all his students can continue to take courses without disruptions, under the COVID-19 mandates/policies students/faculty were experiencing.

To this date, Dr. Page has never experienced any complaint (in conversation or formally) from his students about these LinkedIn comments. Any claim to merit about concerns of how welcoming Dr. Page's classroom at University of Regina is never was substantiated, any claim of concern by administration were alleged, spoken of anonymously, and never substantiated. All of Dr. Page's lectures from his time at University of Regina are publicly archived:
https://www.youtube.com/@DanielPageCSLectures

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Supporting PageWizard GL&E is supporting research and teaching by academics unaffiliated with universities. Canadian universities have become hostile to academic freedom, merit-based hiring and other traditions that promote independent thinking and the quest for knowledge. Academics outside universities need support if they are to pursue the academic mission for the good of us all.

SAFS's letter to Dean of Science, University of Regina:
https://safs.ca/issuescases/regina-expectation/SAFS%20letter%20re%20Letter%20of%20Expectation%20to%20Daniel%20Page.pdf

Letter to Dr. Page from administration, affirming Letter of Expectation (recited in the video):
https://safs.ca/issuescases/regina-expectation/2021-12-23%20DanielPage-Response.pdf

About Daniel Page:
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Daniel is a theoretical computer scientist that researches and teaches on topics such as Algorithms. Daniel has held several positions such as Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Instructor, and Researcher for public universities such as The University of Manitoba, The University of Western Ontario, St. Francis Xavier University, and The University of Regina. His educator experience extends outwardly to his work with special needs/inclusion, and has also worked for respected educational institutions such as The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada and Mad Science of Manitoba.
For more details, see Daniel's academic website:
https://drpage.pagewizardgames.com/

Sources:
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CAUT's Policy Statement on Academic Freedom:
https://www.caut.ca/about-us/caut-policy/lists/caut-policy-statements/policy-statement-on-academic-freedom

[A detailed timeline of events in regard to how University of Regina's administration and union reacted] "University of Regina CS Lecturer Received "Letter of Expectation" (and More) for Criticizing School's DIE Policies" - by D.R. Page, SAFS Newsletter, January 2022.
https://safs.ca/newsletters/article.php?article=1174

[Documents archived by SAFS] "University of Regina Computer Science lecturer receives “Letter of Expectation” for criticizing his university," SAFS:
https://safs.ca/university-of-regina-computer-science-lecturer-receives-letter-of-expectation-for-criticizing-his-university/

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#canada
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