Canada’s Universities in Need of Reform

Canada’s Universities in Need of Reform by Maj (ret’d) CORNELIU, CHISU, CD, PMSC FEC, CET, P.Eng. Former Member of Parliament Pickering-Scarborough East Canada has recently gone through a crucial parliamentary election. After more than a 6 month pause, the House of Commons has resumed its short spring session, expected to end by June 20th. Canadians have high expectations of the Government of Prime Minister Carney, though, admittedly, he has a difficult task in reestablishing Canada as a beacon of science and industry. To achieve results expected by Canadians, our post-secondary educational establishment, especially in technical areas, need to become world class once again; our Canadian universities should be world leaders in science and technology, and respected as such. Currently, our universities are facing a sharp decline in their reputations with the public. The public is rapidly losing faith in them, in large part, because the universities have become political monocultures. This is very different from the situation 50 years ago, when universities’ political makeup approximately matched that of society at large. The political tilt towards one-sided political views and intolerance for alternate points of view, resulting in critical academic and job related consequences, is leading students and scholars to self-censor in a purported environment of ‘academic freedom’. An environment that has become poisonous. The implication is that, despite universities’ claims of prioritizing diversity, they have become entrenched in ideology and increasingly hostile to alternate points of view, ones that may challenge the official viewpoint, one that is not necessarily rooted in common sense. In Canada, the federal government bears some of the blame for the political drift at our universities through the funding policies of its major granting agencies. With a combined budget of about $5 billion, they have moved away from prioritizing research excellence to heavily promoting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) themes. Applying EDI priorities mindlessly and artificially is counterproductive to the intended purpose of these initiatives. In addition, there is an increasing tendency within academia to engage in hiring practices that implicitly or explicitly impose political litmus tests. Canada is a multicultural country, providing a home to people from all around the world, where society should not categorize the population by race, color, gender or faith in relation to any of their activities. We are all Canadians. We do not need segregation, particularly not in the technical field. We need to excel as a united nation, not be categorized by artificial groupings. We are all under one flag; the Canadian Flag. Colleges and universities still hold considerable reputational capital in society. However, it cannot last indefinitely, especially at the rate they are spending it down. If not corrected in time, irreversible damage will occur. The public reputation of universities has dropped significantly over the past decades with good reason, if my personal experience is anything to go by. In 1985, 14 years after I got my undergraduate degree at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, I enrolled in the Master of Engineering program in Engineering Physics at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto. It was a difficult task to pass 12 courses with no grade below a B–, but I had a great experience, completing the degree in 3 years while working a full time job. In early 2000, by which time I was Vice President elect of the Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), I casually asked the Dean of Engineering, U of T, why the Master of Engineering degree only required 9 courses these 15 years later. His astonishing answer was that this lowering of standards was necessary due to current students’ lack of preparation in basic math and science. Despite all their rhetoric about diversity, universities have systematically destroyed what is most central to their mission: intellectual diversity and scientific excellence. They have become institutionally one-sided, highly partisan, and out of step with the public they serve. In addition, the segment of the public on the receiving end of academia’s open disdain is now responding in kind by signalling a loss of confidence and respect for universities. A bias this deep did not happen by accident. Rather, it reflects a long-standing, deliberate process of preferential treatment within academia for proponents of liberal and extreme ideological perspectives, and the codification of those preferences into programs and curricula. Far from correcting this bias, university administrators have encouraged it and have allowed their institutions to become systemically hostile environments for academia and students with traditional or opposing views. The rapidly declining public regard for universities makes it increasingly clear that this ideological and political monoculture tilt will ultimately be self-defeating. The public and taxpayers will be the judges if the situation does not change. Colleges and universities must reform themselves; the government cannot order them to do so. However, before the government can credibly demand that universities embrace political neutrality and intellectual diversity, it will have to address its own role in promoting the ideological monoculture through research funding activities. In conclusion, the collapse of viewpoint diversity and the rise of a political monoculture currently afflicting universities has been a problem in the making for several decades. It will likewise take several decades to fix. The first step is for universities themselves to address the systemic discrimination that has caused them to become political monocultures. Doing so requires people who are comfortable with the monoculture to start considering how to dismantle it. Colleges and universities in Canada occupy a privileged position in society, being granted large quantities of both public funding and autonomy to pursue their goals. Unfortunately, they have become far removed from mainstream priorities and viewpoints, and their public reputation is in decline. Though the political orientation of Canada’s research granting agencies has tended to reinforce and amplify the problem, it is the Universities themselves that need to recognize the problem and develop strategies to rectify it. In many respects, what they need to do is return to the level of political neutrality and viewpoint balance they exhibited 50 years ago. Doing so will ultimately enhance their capacity to benefit society by creating an environment that stimulates genuinely open debate, rigorous inquiry, and social equality. We need genuinely open debate and rigorous inquiry to regain leadership status in science and technology. Genuine social equality is needed to restore the social sciences to a healthy state so we can serve our beloved country and Canadian society as they deserve to be served. Keep in mind that the world is changing at ultrasonic speed and other countries, not necessarily friendly ones, are taking the lead in technology because of serious, laser focused, science oriented education. Canada cannot afford to be left behind! What do you think?