The Minister of Higher Education, Pascale Déry, asks the leaders of Quebec universities not to tolerate, “under any conditions”, censorship in academic circles. It demands that inclusion and concern for greater representativeness of diversity not encroach on “equal competence”.
“Under no condition should we tolerate censorship in academic circles. Censorship inhibits thought, and fearful thinking hampers the pursuit of excellence that is central to the academic mission. We cannot sacrifice academic freedom in the name of certain specific struggles, at the risk of losing both in the end”, writes the new minister, in a letter sent to rectors on Monday, which is intended as a “clarification” following recent events.
For the Minister, the steps aimed at diversifying educational establishments are “legitimate and necessary”, but they “must in no case lead to any form whatsoever of discrimination or injustice”. She maintains that the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) requirements of the Canada Research Chairs programs, determined by Ottawa, “rather restrict certain rights and reduce the primacy of the notions of competence and excellence”.
This spring, Université Laval found itself at the heart of a controversy following the posting of a position within its Canada research chair in biology, in which it was specified that only women , Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities or members of a visible minority would be considered.
In Ontario, the University of Ottawa, where lecturer Verushka Lieutenant-Duval had been suspended after saying the “word that begins with an N” in class, also created five positions reserved for racialized or Indigenous candidates in 2021. -2022. The aim was then to “address the under-representation of certain groups within the teaching staff”.
A motion, demands
Last December, during the short parliamentary session in the National Assembly following the October elections, Mr.me Déry had tabled a motion asking Quebec elected officials “to express their concern at the exclusion of certain candidates from obtaining Canada Research Chairs on the basis of criteria that are not related to competence”. The motion was adopted unanimously.
On Twitter, Tuesday, the Minister confirmed that she had asked the Chief Scientist of Quebec, Rémi Quirion, to “review his evaluation grid in the allocation of Quebec Research Funds, so that the EDI criteria are not necessarily predominant. , but rather complementary.
“The opposite would endanger excellence, the search for truth and academic freedom”, insists Pascale Déry, adding that it is a matter of “the quality of teaching” and “the relevance of the university environment in general. “.
Nevertheless, the Minister recognizes that for universities, “meeting these expectations is a delicate responsibility which may require difficult arbitrations”. “You can count on my full support in the pursuit of this objective,” she assures the leaders.
The predecessor of M.me Déry, Danielle McCann, had tabled a bill last April – which has since been adopted – to “protect university academic freedom”. In particular, the law imposes a definition on this concept and obliges universities to adopt a policy whose parameters are dictated by Quebec. The University of Montreal (UdeM) was particularly concerned that Quebec would thus establish a “very bad precedent”.