On January 19, 2024, from the pen of Marie-Michèle Sioui, Duty told us that Pascale Déry, Minister of Higher Education, refused to ratify the appointment of Professor Denise Helly to the board of directors of the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) even though she was duly chosen and nominated by his peers.
This has all the appearance of political interference and, if so, it is a completely unacceptable situation. This is why we are putting pen to paper today to demand explanations from the minister.
With nearly half a century (!) of career, Denise Helly is an exceptional intellectual whose rigor and critical sense are recognized worldwide. An anthropologist trained at the Sorbonne, she first distinguished herself through her work on the culture of Chinese immigrants in Cuba, then on the politics of nationalities in China. She eventually came to settle in Quebec in 1980, where her research led her to become interested in the question of diasporas and inter-ethnic relations in the province.
It was following the events of September 11, 2001 that she gradually began to explore the issue of Islamophobia and racism in Quebec. Today, with countless publications on the subject, his skills and expertise are a reference, both in Quebec and internationally. This is also the reason why she was designated by her colleagues at INRS to sit on the board of directors of their institution: a woman of leadership, courageous, rigorous and dedicated, we recognize in her all the qualities of a leader.
This government intervention in the appointment of members of a university CA is a completely unprecedented fact in Quebec, and we must be concerned about it. Ministerial validation of an application usually represents a simple formality: the members of a university community agree (via various selection processes) to designate the people best able to look after the interests of their institution, then the ministry affixes its seal in order to give official value to this collective decision. In this case, another seat was also vacant and the other nomination was validated immediately, without incident. Only the candidacy of Mme Helly seems to be a problem and one might wonder why.
However, the minister categorically refuses to explain the reasons for this arbitrary decision. In doing so, she leaves us no other choice but to speculate and, apart from the fact that Denise Helly has been particularly critical of the policies of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) — as she has been also in the past towards the policies of the Parti Québécois (PQ), the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and all the other parties – we absolutely do not see what could justify the rejection of his candidacy.
The situation seems all the more ridiculous to us since the current government presents itself as a standard-bearer of academic freedom and has just legislated in this direction. Its Law on academic freedom in the university environment also insists on the importance of “respecting the autonomy of higher education establishments” and on the fact that they can “accomplish their mission without doctrinal, ideological or moral “. Frankly ironic: to say the least…
As the Quebec Federation of University Professors (FQPPU) argues, the refusal to recommend an appointment to the board of directors of a university can only be based on serious reasons, which should be communicated clearly and without delay. This is why we call on Minister Déry to clarify her position as quickly as possible and to communicate the reasons for her decision.
Otherwise, she will have to justify the arbitrariness of the situation. And at the moment, everything seems to indicate that this is a form of ideological profiling.