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Monday, September 29, 2025

Confronting the Post-Academic University: In Conversation with Mark Mercer

By
Patrick Keeney
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Before decolonization, deplatforming, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mandates, Indigenization, Black Lives Matter, safe spaces and the war on merit consumed intellectual life on Canadian campuses, there were the Mohammed cartoons. In February 2006 Mark Mercer, a philosophy professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, stood at the door of his colleague Peter March’s office, contemplating the infamous editorial renderings. Originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten a year earlier, the drawings caused an international contretemps (including violent riots) after numerous Islamic organizations and leaders demanded their destruction on the grounds that any printed image of the Muslim prophet is blasphemous.

March taped the cartoons to his door because he thought his students had the right to decide for themselves whether they were offensive or not. School administrators quickly decided no such right existed. March was told to remove the offending comics and, 17 years ago, the time-honoured concept of freedom of expression for all was replaced by a new right for some to be kept safe from self-defined offence.

As Mercer later noted in C2C Journal, “In ordering him to take down the cartoons, [the university was]…violating Dr. March’s academic freedom and dampening freedom of expression on campus.” As the March affair grew into a national news story, Mercer came to realize his school’s administrators had no interest in defending what he thought to be the core purpose of any university. They “consistently sacrificed academic values to serve such non-academic values as avoiding offense and promoting harmony.” Even worse, he wrote, very few of his colleagues felt the same way he did about intellectual freedom on campus. Notably, however, “One organization did stand up for freedom of expression at Saint Mary’s: The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship.”

So began Mercer’s long connection to SAFS. Founded in 1992, the non-profit organization’s primary goal is to “maintain freedom in teaching, research and scholarship” at Canadian universities. It’s a lonely task. And getting lonelier, as universities have grown increasingly intolerant of heterodox opinions, unfettered debate and even the very notion of merit. Among recent examples of the decay are the firing of tenured Mount Royal University professor Frances Widdowson for expressing controversial views on Indigenous issues and DEI, the proliferation of race-based hiring programs, the chilling of free speech and open discourse and numerous disciplinary actions taken against academics for expressing a conservative viewpoint. Since the Mohammed cartoons, allegations of offensive behaviour backed by administrative sanction have become a trump card against free speech on campus.

Through it all, Mercer – who would become president of SAFS in 2015 – proved himself to be Canada’s most visible and vocal defender of academic freedoms. Befitting his organization’s foundational view that a university should be where opposing ideas are debated in a transparent and respectful fashion, Mercer’s main tools are a well-maintained website that scrupulously documents every new outrage, and sternly-worded letters from SAFS meant to draw added attention to such violations of intellectual freedom. The letters always invite their recipients, typically university administrators, to reply and engage in a civil discourse on the issues. They rarely do.

The campaign has at times become intensely personal. In 2020 Mercer was hauled before a disciplinary inquisition at Saint Mary’s over his own freedom of speech. This followed the uproar about University of Ottawa art professor Verushka Lieutenant-Duval’s mention of the word n****r in a lecture on subversiveness in art. While she displayed no animus or intent to demean, its mere utterance offended some students and Lieutenant-Duval’s class was suspended pending a university investigation.

This prompted a requisite letter from SAFS. “The University of Ottawa could have simply affirmed Dr Lieutenant-Duval’s academic freedom in teaching and informed the students that their complaint was groundless,” Mercer wrote. He forwarded this letter to administrators at other universities. And because his email included the forbidden word spelled out in full, Mercer soon found himself caught up in the same punitive disciplinary inquiry that the SAFS deplores when it happens to others.

Mercer was accused of violating the school’s “Declaration of Respect.” After a process that dragged on for several months, Mercer finally agreed to a tersely worded statement of “regret” so he could get back to focusing on his teaching and research. While prudent and understandable, it is a decision that still rankles Mercer as it reveals the intense pressure placed on academics to conform to illiberal campus speech codes on pain of losing their jobs. “I do not regret having sent my message, even to those upset by it,” he later wrote, “but I’m sad anyone was upset.”

In 2020, SAFS was awarded the George Jonas Freedom Award for its “significant contributions to defending Canada as a free society.” This is largely in recognition of Mercer’s tireless efforts defending the notion that thinking and speaking freely without fear of administrative restrictions or punishment should constitute a university’s core mission. His recent book In Praise of Dangerous Universities and Other Essays expands on these important views.

As he steps down as SAFS president after serving eight tumultuous years, Mercer met with C2C Journal’s Patrick Keeney to discuss the descent of Canadian universities into “post-academic” institutions, the time-honoured significance of academic freedom and the SAFS’ determination to keep that flame alive on campuses that have become hostile to the very concept of intellectual autonomy.

Read the interview at C2CJournal.ca.

Kelowna expected to top crime list again but mayor says there’s hopeful signs

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Although the RCMP  expects Kelowna to top Canada’s 2022 crime severity index list, Mayor Tom Dyas says that data not included in the figure shows some positive changes for the community. 

On Monday, the region’s RCMP Superintendent Kara Triance released a quarterly report for the area showing a reduction in property offences. 

“I found them encouraging,” said Dyas of the numbers

“Any time we are looking at the kind of changes we had…we had said we were going to do what we could to make changes in the areas of business break and enters, theft.”

Auto theft in the region is down 6.1% this year compared to the second quarter of 2022, break and enters are down 4.7% and other theft is down 3.1%. 

Kelowna has also seen a reduction in sexual assaults, theft involving violence and assaults with a weapon. 

“Decreases in property crime observed in 2020 are holding, with the exception of bike theft,” wrote Triance. 

During the 2022 municipal election, Dyas ran on a tough-on-crime platform, pledging to crackdown on Kelowna’s reputation as the most crime-ridden city in Canada. 

Earlier this year, Kelowna’s City Council threw their support behind local Conservative MP Tracy Gray’s private member’s bill, C-283, also known as the End the Revolving Door Act. 

The bill would allow the Correctional Service of Canada to designate certain prisons an “addiction treatment facility” where inmates would be required to undergo rehab programs. 

“Even though the percentages are low with regards to where they have come down, they are still declining and going in the right direction,” said Dyas. 

“It’s been a priority of council. It still sits as council’s number one priority, crime and safety within the community and we are going to continue to advocate strongly in those directions and hopefully affect even more change in 2023.”

As exclusively reported by True North in March, one Kelowna family whose home burnt down were robbed of $15,000 in tools when re-constructing their property. 

Feds approve new Indigenous name for Ottawa’s Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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The National Capital Commission (NCC) has announced that Ottawa’s Sir. John A. Macdonald Parkway will be renamed Kichi Zībī Mīkan, a move that is being criticized as “another ill-advised act of moral cowardice.” 

NCC board members approved the new name on Thursday. This came after the commission announced its intentions to rename the parkway back in January.

“The new name references the Algonquin name for the river — Kichi Zībī — and the original name for the parkway, the Ottawa River Parkway,” said the NCC in a press release. 

“It also highlights the importance of the Ottawa River as a great and abundant river that has provided for peoples’ needs for generations, just as it does today. The river has served to build relationships, connect communities, and allow people to relate to one another.”

The NCC says Kichi Zībī Mīkan was “selected through an Algonquin naming and engagement exercise” and that the approach “aligns with the principles of the new NCC Toponymy Policy and is consistent with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action related to language, culture and commemoration.”

The road by the Ottawa River was initially known as the Western Parkway or the Ottawa River Parkway. It was then renamed after Canada’s first prime minister in 2012 under the Harper government.

However, in recent years, activists have called for the parkway’s name to be changed due to John A. Macdonald’s involvement in the formation of Canada’s residential school system. 

Not everyone is, however, supportive of the name change.

Scholar, policy expert and Macdonald-Laurier Institute managing director Brian Lee Crowley told True North the renaming of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway is “another ill-advised act of moral cowardice by people ashamed by the history of this fine country and ashamed of the name of the man who, more than any other single individual, is responsible for the fact that Canada exists at all as an exemplary modern liberal democracy.”

Crowley does not believe the name change can be justified as an act of reconciliation with Indigenous people, noting “As former Senator Murray Sinclair, the man who headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, noted some time ago, the renaming of existing things smacks of revenge.” 

“The point is not to plunge our history into the black hole of memory, but to expand our historical self-understandings to include things previously ignored.”

Crowley also said that “it is not Canadians who should be ashamed of Sir John A. Macdonald, but the authors of this small-minded gesture who should be ashamed of themselves.”

The NCC will hold a formal renaming ceremony on September 30th, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Liberals table identity-based jobs plan

By
Neil Sharma
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A Liberal sustainable jobs bill is being criticized for invoking “identity politics” by emphasizing jobs for members of “equity-seeking groups.”

Tabled by Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson, Bill C-50 would support the federal government’s efforts to increase job growth in the green energy sector

However, the bill appears to prioritize certain groups over others.

“A sustainable jobs approach should be inclusive and address barriers to employment with an emphasis on encouraging the creation of employment opportunities for groups underrepresented in the labour market, including women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, Black and other racialized individuals, 2SLGBTQI+ and other equity-seeking groups,” the bill says.

The bill would also strike an advisory council, whose membership would be subject to diversity requirements as well as regional representation.

Among the proposed bill’s criteria for advisory council members are, “The Indigenous knowledge of Indigenous peoples, climate change and climate policy at the regional, national and international levels.”

In shifting towards a “a net-zero economy,” Bill C-50 acknowledges “issues related to industrial change and technological transformation,” which it states it will monitor through analysis and economic and labour force forecasting.

National Post columnist Jamie Sarkonak noted that identity politics “is baked into (the bill’s) core,” speculating it will benefit “identity blocs that regularly form the focus of federal policy,” rather than all Canadians.

Identity-based preference has become conventional in Liberal job plans, citing the Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ) that’s backed by $400 million in government money. Although the program claims to help youth facing barriers to find employment, there are caveats.

“In 2023, CJS will address the following five national priorities: youth with disabilities, Black and other racialized youth, Indigenous youth, small business and not-for-profit organizations that self-report as having leadership from groups that are underrepresented in the labour market,” the CJS’s online guide read.

It added that small businesses and not-for-profit organizations in environmental sectors would receive preferential treatment, too.

The CJS falls under the domain of Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, who also oversees the Apprenticeship Service, a trades-based wage subsidy that also favours “diverse” candidates with more favourable grants. White apprentices, for example, only qualify for $5,000, while that figure doubles for virtually all other demographical groups.

Additionally, the feds announced $25 million last week for an entrepreneurship program catering exclusively to the LGBT community, and while the program doesn’t stipulate how, qualified applicants will be required to prove their sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to the National Post, which cites a representative from the CGLCC, an LGBT-oriented Canadian chamber of commerce that will run the LGBT entrepreneurship program, the eligibility verification process will include “a list of qualifiers and proof points of sexuality and/or gender identity such as personal references.”

The Alberta Roundup | Inside AHS’ bid to rehire Hinshaw

By
Rachel Parker
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This week on The Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel, Rachel announces that a dying unvaccinated woman has been given new hope by an American hospital, but she’ll need to fundraise over half a million dollars.

Rachel also breaks down Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s meeting with federal counterparts to discuss energy policy. And, the UCP government followed through on its campaign promise to pause the fuel tax till the end of the year.

Finally, Rachel has a revelation about former Alberta chief medical health officer Deena Hinshaw you won’t want to miss.

Tune into The Alberta Roundup now!

RCMP search for suspected grass fire arsonist, lay charges in suspicious fire

By
Rachel Parker
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The Alberta RCMP are continuing to pursue charges and investigations after Premier Danielle Smith said the province would hire arson investigators following an unprecedented wildfire season. 

On Wednesday, the RCMP responded to reports of multiple grass fires along Highway 9, between Hanna and Youngstown, about two hours east of Red Deer. According to an RCMP news release, police believe the fires were “intentionally set,” and are similar in nature to multiple grass fires that occurred near the area on June 13.

Hanna RCMP say they are seeking witnesses to the June 21 incident and any potential dashcam footage. 

“As the suspect involved in this incident is still at large, the RCMP are asking for the public to be alert for suspicious activity in this area going forward, and to call 911 if you believe a criminal incident is in progress.” 

Earlier this month, Smith announced she would hire arson investigators from outside the province as there are 175 wildfires with no known causes. The province said it requires additional support given the high number of active wildfires so early in the season. 

Fires in Alberta reached a crisis point in early May, just days into the provincial election campaign, and during a time when the provincial firefighters typically undergo firefighting training exercises. 

The province has already brought in two arson investigators from New Brunswick and two from BC. Investigators will determine if the fire was caused by humans. 

Determining whether the fire was deliberately set, or arson, is the role of the RCMP or law enforcement. The Alberta RCMP’s Forestry Crimes Unit handles all arson related investigations. 

Last month, the Forestry Crimes Unit laid two charges in a suspicious fire.

The charges stemmed from an April 13, 2023, investigation where a suspect stole a firework from a local food store in Grouard. The firework was then set off from a moving vehicle which started a grassfire that was ultimately contained. 

Paval Laboucan (21), a resident of Peace River, was charged with Mischief and theft.  He has ongoing court appearances in High Prairie.

Candidate profile: Mark Saunders’ anti-Chow platform

By
Noah Jarvis
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Running on a platform that emphasizes restoring public safety in the city, Mark Saunders has distinguished himself as a leading candidate on a moderately centre-right agenda. 

As Toronto’s former police chief from 2015-2020, Saunders is relying on name recognition and experience from decades as a cop to challenge progressive frontrunner Olivia Chow and tackle the city’s growing crime problem.

However, Saunders faces the monumental challenge of convincing Chow supporters to switch their support to his campaign and shoring up support from rival candidates like Anthony Furey, Ana Bailão, and Brad Bradford. 

True North is writing a profile on each of Toronto’s major mayoral candidates so Torontonians can make an informed decision as to who they will vote for in the June 26th byelection. 

After graduating high school, a young Saunders joined the Toronto Police Service, eventually serving in the force for 38 years.

Over Saunders’ career, he has earned several accolades including the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, the Police Exemplary Service Medal, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

In 2015, the Toronto Police Services Board named Saunders as Toronto’s first black police chief, an appointment that was expected to improve relations between the police and minority communities.

However, Saunders’ tenure as Toronto’s top cop was fraught and elicited mixed reactions from the city’s police officers and citizens. 

In 2018, a vote from the members of the Toronto Police Association conducted a symbolic vote of confidence in Saunders in which 86% of the 47% of members who voted voted against Saunders’ leadership. 

In July 2020, Saunders resigned his position as Toronto’s chief of police months before he was due to serve a second term in the role. 

With the name recognition and reputation that he had built during his time as Toronto’s top cop, Saunders threw his name into the race, running on a platform of restoring community safety by tackling the various problems contributing to the issue.

Despite believing Toronto’s drug injection sites save lives, Saunders has expressed disgust with used needles being left on the city’s sidewalks around these drug sites.

Saunders would direct the city’s resources to prioritize cleanliness around drug injection sites, create a colour-coded syringe system for needle tracking, and creating an option to report used needles within Toronto’s 311 app. 

Saunders opposes and would withdraw City Hall’s request to the federal government that they decriminalize hard drugs like crack cocaine, MDMA, and heroin for the personal use of adults and youth 12-17 years old.

Saunders has also announced that as mayor, he would hire an additional 600 uniformed officers – 200 TTC special constables and 400 police officers – in order to make traversing the city safer, especially on the TTC.

“By deploying 400 additional police officers, we’ll halt and reverse the rising tide of violence in Toronto,” said Saunders. 

On the tent encampments popping up in Toronto’s parks, Saunders says that he would support removing encampments from parks that he says could threaten families walking through parks with used needles and criminal behaviour flooding the parks. 

“Residents are scared to walk through the park or play in it with their kids and pets because of the many tents, needles, and criminal behaviour,” said Saunders.

In response to a memo circulated to city volunteers announcing that the Canada Day celebration at City Hall would be cancelled, Saunders defiantly opposed the decision and promised that Toronto would continue to celebrate the nation’s anniversary under a Saunders mayoralty. 

Among other announcements, Saunders promised to end the gridlock afflicting the Toronto’s streets, crack down on car thefts, make the TTC free for seniors on Mondays, and drop CafeTO fees for small businesses. 

In recent weeks, Saunders has positioned himself as the definitive anti-Chow candidate who will prevent the former NDP MP from ruining the city. 

Saunders claims that Chow would make gridlock worse, would cause crime to rise, would fire police officers, and defund the police. 

While Saunders claims to be the only alternative to the frontrunner Chow, Saunders is far from achieving a comparable level of support to Chow’s and is being closely trailed by other candidates.

Forum Research’s latest poll found that 35% of Torontonians plan to vote for Chow while Saunders polls at 14% – a 21% margin.

Cursive writing will become mandatory in Ontario’s curriculum next fall

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Starting this fall, Ontario elementary students will be required to have mandatory cursive writing education.

This change comes after a study by the Ontario Human Rights Commission last year that urged the province to adopt evidence-based methods for teaching reading.

Cursive writing is a form of handwriting that connects letters with flowing strokes. 

It was removed from the curriculum in 2006 and became an optional skill for teachers to teach. However, some experts and parents have advocated for its return, citing various benefits for students’ literacy and expression.

According to Education Minister Stephen Lecce, re-introducing cursive writing as a mandatory prerequisite will have many benefits for students who are falling behind on reading and writing skills. 

“If we want to boost reading instruction, we have to embrace some of those time-tested strategies that have worked for generations,” said Lecce. 

“A return to phonics and, for example, cursive writing is another example where the government is leaning into the evidence and following the voice of many parents who wanted us to really embrace those practices that for generations have worked.”

Shelley Stagg Peterson, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, agreed that it was time to reintroduce cursive writing. 

She said it not only teaches students how to write in that script, but also reinforces overall literacy by enhancing writing skills, strengthening letter recognition and improving spelling.

“Cursive should never have been taken out of the curriculum,” said Peterson. 

“The more that young writers, beginning writers, are using their hands, they’re using another modality to form the letters, that kinesthetic reproduction helps them to think more about the words that they’re writing.” 

The new curriculum changes will introduce cursive writing lessons in Grade 3. 

“If we work together as we have for the last year … to embrace this change and to build that capacity, I’m absolutely confident that educators will be set up for success,” said Lecce.

Harper to be named to the Alberta Order of Excellence

By
Rachel Parker
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Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper will be named to the Alberta Order of Excellence later this year.

Following years of a Tory split between the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives, Conservatives rallied around Harper to found the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC). Harper went onto unseat Paul Martin’s Liberals and formed a minority government in 2006.

He went on to form two more governments; a minority in 2008, and a majority in 2011. 

Harper is lauded for leading the Canadian people and maintaining a stable economy during the 2008/9 financial crisis. His government worked with the Bank of Canada to support  financial markets and initiated a time-limited fiscal stimulus program.

It also scrapped the long gun registry and the Canadian Wheat Board, which had a monopoly on purchasing wheat since Parliament established the group in 1935.  Harper further pardoned a group of farmers who were arrested for trying to sell their wheat outside the board. 

His other major achievements include substantial criminal justice reforms to impose heavier sentences on violent criminals, and the introduction of tax-free savings accounts for Canadians.

He left politics after his government was defeated by the Trudeau Liberals in 2015. 

Harper is among eight people who will receive the high honour in Edmonton in October, bringing the total count of the Alberta Order of Excellence to 212 members.

The others are Max Foran, Joe Lukacs, Claudette Tardif, Stella Thompson, Jim Carter, Angus Watt, Audrey McFarlane. 

“These outstanding Albertans have enriched our collective journey through their dedication, innovation and leadership. May their stories inspire us all to build vibrant and compassionate communities,” said Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani in a press release.

BC Conservatives vow to protect women’s spaces from biological men

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A BC Conservative government would protect women’s only spaces from biological men, the party announced this week.

Ahead of a pair of weekend by-elections in British Columbia, BC Conservative candidate Karin Litzcke took aim at the NDP and Green Party for trying to “shame and silence women.”

“Joan Phillip and Wendy Hayko think that it is ‘transphobic’ to accept the biological differences between men and women; they are wrong to shame and silence women who as for safe, fair, protected spaces,” said Litzcke. 

“The impacts of the NDP, Green Party, and BCU/Liberal woke ideology galls on women and girls in spaces that the public does not see. In changing rooms and bathrooms. In women’s shelters and in dormitories. In summer camps and in prisons.” 

The BC Conservatives are running candidates in both Langford–Juan de Fuca and Vancouver–Mount Pleasant, where Litzcke is the Conservative candidate. 

Protests against the presence of gender ideology in schools have been happening every week along the highway in North Vancouver. 

The protests have prompted a response from BC Premier David Eby who accused the demonstrators of holding “hateful” banners.

Signage included claims that “no child is ever born in the wrong body” and that “gender ideology is child sex grooming.” 

“The content of the protest, obviously, it’s quite hateful. It’s really, in my opinion, seeking to divide British Columbia and to foment division and hatred in our province,” said Eby. 

“I find it reprehensible and while I recognize the free speech rights of people to be out and to demonstrate, the content of the demonstration I find quite awful and I wish those people would certainly go home.”

Opponents of the protest have called on the police to enforce a court injunction to prevent the demonstrators from returning to the highway. 

“The Conservative Party of British Columbia is the only party in BC which believes that women’s spaces must be protected and that parents and families must have the ability to make choices around education, social values, and health decisions for their children,” said Litzcke.

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