Denis Rancourt

Denis Rancourt is a former professor of physics at the University of Ottawa. Rancourt is a recognized scientist but is more widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his grade inflation and "academic squatting," the act of arbitrarily changing the topic of a course without departmental permission.[1][2]

Denis Rancourt
Rancourt in his office at the University of Ottawa in 2004
Born (1957-03-23) March 23, 1957
North Bay, Ontario
EducationBachelor's Degree from University of Ottawa (1980), Master's Degree from University of Toronto (1981), Ph.D from University of Toronto (1984)

University conflict

His conflicts with the university started in 2005 when, in what was termed "academic squatting," he changed a course to focus "not just [on] how science impacts everyday life, but how it relates to greater power structures".[3][4][5] In June 2008 a labour law arbitrator sided with Rancourt and ruled that "teaching science through social activism is protected by academic freedom."[5] Rancourt was removed from all teaching duties in the fall of 2008 because the dean of the faculty of science did not agree with his granting A+ grades to 23 students in one course of the winter 2008 semester.[1] In December, the Allan Rock administration of the University of Ottawa began dismissal proceedings against him and he was banned from campus. This generated a province-wide (Ontario) and national (Canada) public debate on grading in university courses.[1][6][7][8][9][10] The university's Executive Committee of the Board of Governors voted unanimously to fire Rancourt on March 31, 2009.[11] Rancourt has expressed the opinion that the grading issue was a pretext for his dismissal.[6] Canadian media reports have echoed that Rancourt's dismissal was political.[7][8] Rancourt has grieved the dismissal and the Canadian Association of University Teachers is running an Independent Committee of Inquiry into the matter.[12] The dismissal case went to binding arbitration where Rancourt's union took the position that the grading issue was a pretext to remove Rancourt and that the termination was done in bad faith.[13] Arbitrator Claude Foisy ruled in a decision dated January 27, 2014,[14] to uphold the university's dismissal of Rancourt.[15] On March 10, 2014, Rancourt's union announced that it would appeal the Arbitrator's award.[16][17]

U of O Watch blog

While at Ottawa Rancourt started a blog, U of O Watch, to report various alleged malfeasance of administrators and of his colleagues. The University used "copyright infringement" against the blog for using University web site images and disciplined Rancourt with a suspension that was grieved by Rancourt.[18]

In June 2011 University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis sued Rancourt for $1 million over two U of O Watch blog posts about her.[19][20][21][22] The Law Times (Canada) did a feature about the case on August 29, 2011.[23]

The action went to trial in May 2014, but Rancourt walked out of the trial in the first week citing "reasonable apprehension of bias" and a "kangaroo court", because the judge had struck out one of his defenses during his opening statement to the jury.[24] In June 2014, the court found Rancourt had libeled St. Lewis, and awarded $350,000 in damages, plus court costs.[25][26] Rancourt appealed the decision, but his appeal was denied and he was ordered to pay St. Lewis $30,000 in costs for the appeal.[27][28]

Suspension, dismissal, and Foisy arbitration

On November 22, 2008, Rancourt was blocked from entering his physics laboratory in the MacDonald Hall building. In the student newspaper The Fulcrum, the University's Director of Communications, Andrée Dumulon, stated that "[a]ccess was prohibited because we found that there were some unauthorized individuals in the lab." Rancourt complained that the administration did not justify or explain the action. Rancourt was then banned from accessing the laboratory.[29]

On December 10, 2008, Rancourt was provided with two letters by administration officials. The first letter indicated that he was under administrative suspension and banned from campus, while the second indicated that the Dean of the Faculty of Science had recommended to the Board of Governors that Rancourt be fired. The stated reason for the University of Ottawa's actions was Rancourt's assigning of A+ grades to all students in his fourth-year physics courses in the Winter 2008 term. These courses include Quantum Mechanics (a required course) and Solid State Physics.[30]

Rancourt states the administration's actions in general, and his dismissal in particular, are influenced in part by the Israel lobby and the military-industrial complex.[31][32][33] He has stated that his dismissal may be related to his political views, specifically his position on the Israel-Palestine conflict,[34] and wrote in his blog that university of Ottawa president (and former Minister of Justice) Allan Rock appears to be "a point-man of the Israel lobby at the University of Ottawa."[35]

In June 2009 all charges against Rancourt in relation to his January 2009 campus arrest for trespassing were dropped.[36][37] In July 2009 Rancourt received Employment Insurance (EI) payments after EI found that the university's position that he was dismissed with cause (thereby barring benefit payments) could not be upheld.[38]

In December 2008, Rancourt's research associate of over 12 years Dr. Mei-Zhen Dang was locked out of the laboratory and fired without notice, explanation or compensation. In February 2009 she sued the university and in August 2009 she won a settlement. Two graduate students of Rancourt were also claimants on the lawsuit and alleged that they had been punished for being in Rancourt's research group.[39] The graduate students stated they were intimidated with threats to their scholarships into dropping the lawsuit and their lawyer stated that a salient feature of the case is that "it has a very political nature."[40]

In 2011, the dismissal case went to binding labor arbitration with Arbitrator Claude Foisy presiding. There were almost 30 days of hearings, with the last hearing day being June 26, 2013. The arbitration judgement was expected within a few months of the end of the hearings.[41] During the hearings the University accused Rancourt of "inciting students to violence", and put a YouTube music video about anarchism into evidence.[42][43][44] Following the conclusion of the arbitration hearings, The Chronicle of Higher Education characterized the case as "raising questions about academic freedom and its limits".[45]

Covert surveillance

In January 2010, Rancourt released a public report about the University of Ottawa having practiced extensive covert surveillance of him and of several students in the period 2006–2008, based on information obtained via an access to information law appeal.[46][47][48][49][50] The use of covert surveillance appears to be in contrast to the University position that "all procedures required by the collective agreement with the Association des Professeurs de l'Université d'Ottawa (APUO) in this matter had been properly followed."[51] On February 4, 2010, student Wayne Sawtell openly called on President Allan Rock to intervene and suggested that the administration's silence amounted to a cover up.[52] Following a February 27, 2010, investigative report by Canadians for Accountability, some further aspects of the covert surveillance campaign and its cover up were reported in the media on April 11, 2010, including the role of the student newspaper The Fulcrum.[53] On January 27, 2010, the union representing student employees at the University of Ottawa, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE, Local 2626), filed a labour law grievance against the university for surveillance against several of its members. In October 2010 the union reported to its members that it had settled with the university. The settlement ensured that information gathered on students would not be allowed in the student employee files. At least one original student griever was displeased and went to the media.[54][55]

CAUT review

In November 2008, the Canadian Association of University Teachers announced that it would establish an Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICOI) with terms of reference to: 1) "examine the series of ongoing disputes between Rancourt and the University of Ottawa"; 2) "to determine whether there were breaches or threats to academic freedom and other faculty rights"; and 3) "to make any appropriate recommendations." The Committee consists of three professors from York University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Rider University. The Committee does not have a fixed time line to work with, but previous ICOI's have generally taken two years to complete their investigation and publish a final report.[12][29] The report was released in 2017 and concluded that "the University of Ottawa was justified in terminating Dr. Rancourt for insubordination."[56]

Access to Information

On September 29, 2010, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (Ontario) released ruling PO-2915 in an access to information (ATI) case involving Rancourt and the University of Ottawa. It was shown that a letter dated September 6, 2007, sent to Rancourt by Rancourt's dean questioning Rancourt's "physical and mental well-being" was based entirely on emails exchanged with university high officials and the university Legal Counsel; suggesting "a broad plan to fire" Rancourt, as widely reported in the media.[57][58][59]

Climate change views

In February, 2007, Rancourt published a controversial essay disputing prevailing theories of climate change on his blog.[60] Alexander Cockburn writing in The Nation called it "one of the best essays on greenhouse myth-making from a left perspective".[61] On 26 October 2007, American Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) referred to the blog by Rancourt during a floor speech aimed at disputing evidence advanced by climate scientists. He noted that "Rancourt – a committed left-wing activist and scientist – believes environmentalists have been duped into promoting global warming as a crisis," and quoted several points from the blog.[62]

References
  1. Anderssen, Erin (2009-02-06). "Professor makes his mark, but it costs him his job". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  2. Fish, Stanley (2009-02-08). "The Two Languages of Academic Freedom". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  3. Trew, Stuart, Understanding power Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Ottawa Xpress, January 5, 2006.
  4. Tam, Pauline, Students rally around controversial professor Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Ottawa Citizen, February 15, 2006.
  5. Teaching Science Through Social Activism is Protected by Academic Freedom, Arbitrator Rules. College and University Employment Law E-Bulletin, Issue No.23. February 17, 2009.
  6. TV-Ontario, The Agenda, with Steve Paikin, April 10, 2009
  7. Anderssen, Erin, The Provocative Professor, Globe and Mail, February 11, 2009.
  8. Pinchin, Karen, In this class, everyone gets A+, Maclean's Magazine, March 13, 2009.
  9. CBC Radio (National) - The Current, March 18, 2009 (Part-3).
  10. McKiernan, Michael, Flunking out over an A+, National Post, April 6, 2009.
  11. Ottawa Citizen. . Accessed April 4, 2009
  12. "CAUT Appoints Committee to Investigate Ottawa U Rancourt Case", CAUT Bulletin, January 2009
  13. Guly, Christopher (2011-12-02). "Suit with racial tones to mediation". The Lawyers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2011-12-03. Alternative-links
  14. In the Matter of an Arbitration, Foisy Arbitration Award, January 27, 2014, APUO web site.
  15. Butler, Don, "Arbitrator upholds University of Ottawa's firing of tenured professor", Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 2014.
  16. Denis Rancourt arbitration, APUO announcement, March 10, 2014, APUO web site.
  17. Butler, Don, Decision on Denis Rancourt’s firing undermines academic freedom, professors say, Ottawa Citizen, March 14, 2014.
  18. Jugé derrière des portes closes, La Rotonde, September 15, 2008.
  19. Endorsement - Whether the words complained of in exhibits 3 and 4 are reasonably capable of defamatory meaning, Joanne St. Lewis v. Denis Rancourt, 2014 ONSC 3209 (CanLII), May 27, 2014
  20. Former colleague sues fired U of O physics professor for libel, Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2011.
  21. Former colleague sues fired Ottawa professor for libel, Vancouver Sun, June 24, 2011.
  22. Calling black colleague ‘House Negro’ not racist: ex-professor, National Post, July 27, 2011.
  23. U of O law prof suing colleague over ‘house negro’ remark - Racial reference in a blog post by Denis Rancourt at the centre of lawsuit, Law Times, August 29, 2011.
  24. Butler, Don, Denis Rancourt boycotts his own trial for libel, citing 'kangaroo court', Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2014.
  25. Spears, Tony (June 6, 2014). "Malicious prof must remove libellous blog posts". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  26. Cobb, Chris (June 5, 2014). "U of O prof wins libel case against Rancourt, awarded $350,000". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  27. Appeal court upholds defamation finding in law prof case Archived 2015-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Legal Feeds, by Yamri Taddese, July 9, 2015.
  28. Endorsement on Appeal, St. Lewis v. Rancourt, 2015 ONCA 513 (CanLII), July 8, 2015.
  29. ""Laboratory Lockout, CAUT Review for Rancourt", The Fulcrum". Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2009-04-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. Rancourt blâme le « lobby israélien Archived 2009-04-23 at the Wayback Machine La Rotonde. January 9, 2009. (English translation)
  32. Rancourt arrêté et poursuivi Archived 2009-04-23 at the Wayback Machine. La Rotonde. January 26, 2009. (English translation)
  33. Denis-la-mitraille Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine. La Rotonde. January 12, 2009 (English translation)
  34. Jesse Freeston. "Dismissing critical pedagogy: Denis Rancourt vs. University of Ottawa". Rabble.ca. January 12, 2009.
  35. U of O suspends Rancourt Archived 2009-04-23 at the Wayback Machine. The Fulcrum. January 21, 2009.
  36. Trespassing charges against former U of O professor dropped. The Ottawa Citizen. June 30, 2009.
  37. Denis Rancourt lavé de toute accusation. Le Droit. June 29, 2009.
  38. EI cheques show firing wrong, professor argues. The Ottawa Citizen. July 23, 2009.
  39. Fired University of Ottawa researcher wins settlement. The Ottawa Citizen. August 25, 2009.
  40. Fallout from prof’s firing leaves students in the cold. The Ottawa Citizen. August 26, 2009.
  41. Lawyer defends A+ marks handed out by Denis Rancourt as lengthy hearing ends, By Don Butler, OTTAWA CITIZEN, June 26, 2013
  42. University of Ottawa accuses ex-professor Denis Rancourt of inciting violence, By Don Butler, OTTAWA CITIZEN, June 11, 2013
  43. Ottawa U had 'real worries' about activism class, By Tony Spears, Ottawa Sun, June 11, 2013
  44. Lawyers spar over University of Ottawa’s dismissal of Denis Rancourt, By Don Butler, OTTAWA CITIZEN, June 25, 2013
  45. A Self-Proclaimed Dissident Riles Up Canadian Academe, By Karen Birchard and Jennifer Lewington, The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 5, 2013
  46. Bailey, Charlotte, "Ex-prof accuses U of O of ‘covert surveillance' - Denis Rancourt publishes public report, files grievance against university" Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine, The Fulcrum, January 14, 2010.
  47. "Rancourt acuse l'universite d'espionage", La Rotonde, January 14, 2010.
  48. Clancy, Jacquie, Covert security operation sparks controversy Archived 2010-01-28 at the Wayback Machine, The Brock Press, January 26, 2010.
  49. Bailey, Charlotte, U of O accused of spying on prof - University practiced ‘extensive covert surveillance’ says ex-prof, The Sheaf, January 26, 2010.
  50. McDonald, Jenn, U of O professor claims he was spied on, The Charlatan, January 28, 2010.
  51. "University of Ottawa News Release: Statement regarding the dismissal of Denis Rancourt" Archived 2010-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
  52. Sawtell, Wayne, An open letter to Allan Rock Archived 2010-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Fulcrum, February 4, 2010.
  53. Godby, Ben, Cover-ups 101 at University of Ottawa, Canadians for Accountability, February 27, 2010.
  54. Curtis, Christopher, U of Ottawa Settles Dispute With TA Union - Accusations of University Sanctioned Espionage Still Loom, The Link, October 25, 2010.
  55. Quadrini, Meghan, Surveillance saga settled, The Charlatan, October 27, 2010.
  56. Report released on termination of U of Ottawa professor, Canadian Association of University Teachers, 2017, retrieved June 26, 2020
  57. Mathew Pearson, "Prof to challenge dismissal over unorthodox teaching methods", canada.com, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, 7 October 2010
  58. Mathew Pearson, "Letters point to broad plan to fire me, prof says", The Ottawa Citizen, 8 October 2010
  59. Mathew Pearson, "Health concerns based solely on emails: professor", National Post, 8 October 2010
  60. Global Warming: Truth or Dare? - Denis Rancourt, February 27, 2007
  61. Cockburn, A., "Dissidents Against Dogma", The Nation, 25 June 2007.
  62. "Inhofe reveals how scientists and activists believe global warming has ‘co-opted’ the environmental movement," US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, 26 October 2007
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