Response to Globe & Mail Editorial Rejecting Smith Report

On Thursday October 22, the Globe and Mail editorial board rejected The Honourable Lynn Smith's interpretation of academic freedom in her report, which was based on the University of British Columbia's academic freedom policy as well as Smith's thorough research into the history and definition of academic freedom. The Globe also rejected Smith's conclusion that the university interfered with my academic freedom "through the combined acts and omissions of Mr. Montalbano, the named individuals in the Sauder School, and others," a conclusion Smith reached after conducting 20 interviews, reviewing hundreds of pages of documents, and weighing other evidence. The Globe wrote that I "should be free to comment casually on university politics" but that my "post was one remark about one unexplained kerfuffle in a university’s administration." Below is my reply, which appears in Tuesday's paper (October 27).

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