Money can buy everything. Even academic freedom.

Sagarika Bose | October 2nd, 2020

Freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research are the most fundamental democratic principles in Academia. At the University of Toronto, the directorship of the International Human Rights Programme (IHRP) was revoked from the distinguished scholar Valentina Azarova. This was done on the grounds of her work on Israeli human rights violations against Palestine, which stands in clear violation of the aforementioned principles. Additionally, the dean of the Faculty of Law, Edward Iacobucci, is allegedly guilty of caving in to external pressure from David Spiro, a judge in the Tax Court of Canada. Judge Spiro is rumoured to raise concerns over Azarova’s work on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The plot thickens as the Judge happens to be a UofT law school alumnus and major donor to its fundraising Campaign for Excellence Without Borders, in the $25,000 to $99,999 category. (1) While it is ironic to witness such unethical behaviour and breach of confidentiality transpiring within the Human Rights department, it isn’t uncommon for people to surreptitiously use power and money to get away with regulations they had initially created.

Dean Iacobucci’s limited response to these allegations has turned out to be counterproductive. He asserts that “even the most basic of the conjectures that are circulating in public that an offer was made and rescinded, is false”. (2) While he admits that there was an ongoing dialogue with a candidate, he claims that there was no offer made due to “legal constraints on cross-border hiring”.(3) Thus, other factors, like external political views in favour or against any candidate remain “irrelevant”.(4) However, there is substantial evidence that contradicts the dean’s statement. Dr. Azarova affirms that she was made a verbal offer over a Zoom call on August 11th that involved a “detailed readout of its terms, including the salary, benefits, and pension contribution”(5), which she formally accepted on August 19th. As a result, the IHRP’s three-member advisory board, Vincent Chiao, Trudo Lemmens, and Anna Su resigned in protest over this decision. Chair of Faculty advisory board, Audrey Macklin and research associate, Vincent Wong stepped down in protest too. (6) Moreover, a tweet by Mr. Wong directly addresses each of the Dean’s claims through screenshots of countless emails exchanged between himself, Audrey Macklin and Alexis Archbold (Assistant Dean). These emails serve as distinct evidence of Dr. Azarova’s references being conducted, plan to discuss their offer to her, her acceptance and excitement towards the job, and confirmation by immigration lawyer on Azarova’s Canadian work permit plan. (7) While one can doubt the veracity of the evidence, I don’t see why else several notable committee members would sacrifice their job security amidst an unpredictable pandemic; there must be some truth to the allegations.

Whether or not an offer was made becomes immaterial as the true point of contention lies in the rumoured unethical political interference by Judge Spiro in the hiring process. It was after Dr. Azarova’s appointment was set in place and approved by employment immigration lawyers, that all of a sudden, she could not meet “faculty’s timing needs”.(8) She was to work as a foreign consultant until her permit was approved after which she planned the move to Canada. (9) The fact that none of the hiring committee members were informed of this urgency (10) merely reinforces the suspicion that the ‘timing’ issue was a last-minute excuse to thwart the offer. It is significant to note that no permanent director was in place since Samer Muscati left in September 2019 (11) which contradicts this desperate need to hire immediately. How exactly does a confirmed plan from immigration lawyers transform suddenly into something irreconcilable?

The ugly truth is that there has been no accountability demonstrated by Dean Iacobucci. In an effort to shield itself from the accused violations of confidentiality, the University rationalizes that since the said information is ‘confidential’ they have conveniently expressed the inability to share the details with the public. Let us consider what is at stake. The IHRP which remained headless for a significant period of time has lost an opportunity to benefit from a brilliant scholar. Damages continue as a result of several resignations from the advisory faculty. The university’s institutional statement of purpose states that the rights to freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research are “meaningless unless they entail the right to raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself”.(12) Keeping aside the breach of confidentiality for a moment, simply giving into the external pressure from a judge on the grounds of a scholar’s work contravenes the principles set by the university. In a letter to the Dean, more than 100 students and alumni of the IHRP have criticized the Faculty for choosing wealth and influence at the cost of academic freedom and equitable hiring policies. Remarkably, they also added that “as students, we look to the IHRP to engage with pressing international legal issues, including Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories”.(13) If there is any truth to these allegations; trust, integrity, academic freedom and reputation of the institution has been severely compromised.

The revelation that Judge Spiro disapproves of Dr. Azarova’s work has raised serious considerations for potential bias in tax court decisions. Queen’s University professor Leslie Green advances that “any party or lawyer before it who is Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim could reasonably fear bias”.(14) Dania Majid, president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), opines that this controversy was no surprise, and yet another attempt to “delegitimise the Palestinian voice”.(15) Majid strongly believes that prospective Palestinian students’ voices may go unrecognized and that dean Iacobucci would abstain from defending their right to express concerns if they were under fire (Al Jazeera). The dean’s actions have effectively set an economic and political threshold in exchange for compliance. “Trust has been irrevocably broken,” wrote Mr. Wong in his resignation email to his superior Ms. Archbold.(16) Thus, the ongoing lack of transparency is merely going to foster further apprehension for existing and incoming Palestinian students on campus. How does one regain trust in the system?

The aphorism ‘might makes right’ seems apt in this scenario. This implies that society’s view of what is right and wrong is established by those with power. In this case, the might certainly does not make right. An external political influence that alters a hiring decision violates confidentiality and becomes a strictly unethical employment practice. The University has scrupulously constructed a lawyerly response that is aimed at beguiling the public at large. A prudent course of action from Dean Iacobacci would be to conduct an in-depth review of this controversial case through an external source. Inaction will lead to irreparable damage to the reputation and integrity of the institution.

Endnotes

1. Shree Paradkar, "Pressure Mounts on U of T Law Faculty As Amnesty, National Council of Canadian Muslims Seek Investigations into Alleged Inappropriate Influence," Thestar.com, last modified September 22, 2020, https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2020/09/22/pressure-mounts-on-u-of-t-law-faculty-as-amnesty-national-council-of-canadian-muslims-seek-investigations-into-alleged-inappropriate-influence.html.

2. Fine, Sean, and Joe Friesen. "U of T Law Dean Denies Offering Scholar Job, Caving to Tax Court Judge’s Pressure." The Globe and Mail. Last modified September 18, 2020. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-dean-denies-offering-scholar-job-caving-to-tax-court-judge/.

3. Fine and Friesen, “U of T Law…”

4. Fine and Friesen, “U of T Law…”

5. Fine and Friesen, “U of T Law…”

6. Gadzo, Mersiha. "‘Anti-Palestinian Racism’: Appointment Row at Toronto University." Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera. Last modified September 20, 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/20/anti-palestinian-racism-appointment-row-at-toronto-university.

7. Wong, Vincent. "Twitter." Welcome to Twitter. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://twitter.com/InitialVW/status/1307406849654874112.

8. Fine, Sean, and Joe Friesen. "U of T Law Dean Denies Offering Scholar Job, Caving to Tax Court Judge’s Pressure." The Globe and Mail. Last modified September 18, 2020. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-dean-denies-offering-scholar-job-caving-to-tax-court-judge/.

9. Robinson, David. "Letter to Meric Gertler by Canadian Association of University Teachers." CAUT |. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://www.caut.ca/sites/default/files/caut_letter_to_dr._gertler_university_of_toronto_re._academic_freedom_2020-09-16.pdf.

10. Wong, Vincent. "Twitter." Welcome to Twitter. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://twitter.com/InitialVW/status/1307406849654874112.

11. Shree Paradkar, "Search for New Director of U of T Law Faculty’s International Human Rights Program Leads to Resignations, Allegations of Interference," Thestar.com, last modified September 17, 2020, https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/09/17/search-for-new-director-of-u-of-t-law-facultys-international-human-rights-program-leads-to-resignations-allegations-of-interference.html.

12. University of Toronto. "Institutional Purpose, Statement of [October 15, 1992]." The Office of the Governing Council. Last modified July 24, 2019. https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/institutional-purpose-statement-october-15-1992.

13. Gadzo, Mersiha. "‘Anti-Palestinian Racism’: Appointment Row at Toronto University." Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera. Last modified September 20, 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/20/anti-palestinian-racism-appointment-row-at-toronto-university.

14. Fine, Sean. "Tax Court Judge Accused of Pressuring U of T Law School Not to Hire Human-rights Scholar Identified." The Globe and Mail. Last modified September 24, 2020. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-tax-court-judge-accused-of-pressuring-u-of-t-law-school-not-to-hire/? utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links .

15. Gadzo, Mersiha. "‘Anti-Palestinian Racism’: Appointment Row at Toronto University." Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera. Last modified September 20, 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/20/anti-palestinian-racism-appointment-row-at-toronto-university.

16. Fine, Sean, and Joe Friesen. "U of T Law Dean Denies Offering Scholar Job, Caving to Tax Court Judge’s Pressure." The Globe and Mail. Last modified September 18, 2020. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-dean-denies-offering-scholar-job-caving-to-tax-court-judge/.