Are the pretexts used to launch investigations in Dawson and Vanier well-founded??

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press Minister Pascale Déry therefore wants to verify whether the two CEGEPs have put in place the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their students in a tense context due to the war in the Middle East.

François Carabin and Marie-Michèle Sioui in Quebec City

Published yesterday at 9:56 a.m. Updated yesterday at 4:37 p.m.

• Quebec City

Some of the examples cited by Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry to justify launching investigations into “student safety” at two Montreal CEGEPs are “inaccurate,” according to the Dawson College Faculty Union. Vanier College, for its part, claims to have processed “no complaints” that would justify the government’s action.

“Dawson College faculty perform their work competently and in accordance with ministerial and departmental requirements; any suggestion to the contrary is false and inappropriate,” the Dawson College Faculty Union office said in a written statement sent to the media on Tuesday.

In the morning, the Coalition avenir Québec government confirmed that it was launching targeted investigations into two English-language CEGEPs located in Montreal: Dawson and Vanier colleges. Minister Pascale Déry therefore wants to verify whether they have put in place the necessary measures to ensure the safety of their students in a tense context due to the war in the Middle East.

In an interview with Le Devoir, the CAQ elected official said Tuesday that she had “enough information” to launch these investigations. “There are several incidents, and then the incidents are of several natures,” she said, before giving the specific example of a Dawson math teacher who, “rather than teach math, [allegedly] invited his students to watch a documentary on the history of Palestine.”

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“In the current tense climate, I wondered if this kind of practice was really adding fuel to the fire,” she said, after saying in an interview on Radio-Canada radio earlier in the morning that “professors […] are cancelling classes to encourage students to go and demonstrate.”

“Inaccurate”

Ms. Déry's statements quickly prompted a reaction from the Dawson teachers' union. The union even issued a statement early in the afternoon to question them. “The examples cited by Minister Déry concerning certain professors are inaccurate,” he stressed.

“[Our] work is carried out in the context of academic freedom, which remains an essential component of quality learning in higher education institutions,” he added.

Asked about Ms. Déry’s comments, Vanier College said it was “surprised” by the minister’s announcement. “We have not received any internal complaints that would justify such an approach,” the institution’s director and secretary general, Isabelle Moncion, said in an email.

“To date, we have not received any information on this government investigation,” Dawson’s communications team added later Tuesday.

When approached mid-afternoon after these statements were made, Pascale Déry said she had only cited “reports and elements that were reported to the Ministry of Higher Education.” “Now, are all these allegations and reports founded? ? That's the investigator's job,” she agreed.

“Student Safety”

The elected official had confirmed the launch of these investigations on the social network X, in the morning, after the broadcast of a TVA Nouvelles report. “The right of students to evolve in a healthy and safe environment is non-negotiable,” she had stressed.

The climate on some campuses seems to have deteriorated in recent months. Several reports have been received by the Ministry of Higher Education to the effect that students are feeling uneasy and even insecure.
We know that the conflict in the Middle East…

— Pascale Déry (@PascaleDery) December 3, 2024

In November, a student movement in support of Palestine led to strikes at many educational institutions. Dawson College chose to cancel all classes on November 21, citing “numerous emails and calls from community members concerned for the safety of students and staff” on the day of the strike.

Dawson and Vanier colleges say they are working with the ministry following the launch of investigations.

With The Canadian Press