U of O culture of intolerance apparent in nonsensical attack against yoga class

Free Ottawa yoga class scrapped over 'cultural issues' (LINK)

By Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Sun

First posted: Friday, November 20, 2015 08:58 PM EST | Updated: Saturday, November 21, 2015 02:12 PM EST 

It's all about a free yoga class offered by an alumnus to a class of sixty students or so, which has been offered every year since 2008.

These are Canada's future politicians...:

"Ahimakin said the student federation put the yoga session on hiatus while they consult with students "to make it better, more accessible and more inclusive to certain groups of people that feel left out in yoga-like spaces. ... We are trying to have those sessions done in a way in which students are aware of where the spiritual and cultural aspects come from, so that these sessions are done in a respectful manner.""

L'Ontario franchit un pas de plus envers la création d'une nouvelle université de langue française

Ottawa, le 20 novembre 2015 – L’Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (L’Assemblée), le Regroupement étudiant franco-ontarien (RÉFO) et la Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne (FESFO) se réjouissent du consensus politique qui semble se former parmi les député.e.s à Queen’s Park à l’égard du projet de création d’une nouvelle université franco-ontarienne. Hier, le Projet de loi 104 : Loi constituant l’Université de l’Ontario français a été approuvé unanimement par l’Assemblée législative de l’Ontario en deuxième lecture et procède maintenant à l’étape de l’étude au sein du Comité permanent de la politique sociale. Les trois organismes vont suivre avec attention les discussions en comité et souhaitent que les député.e.s provinciaux permettent au projet de loi de passer rapidement en 3e lecture pour ensuite être adopté.

« Nous sommes heureux de constater l’appui des trois partis au projet d’une nouvelle université franco-ontarienne, une priorité du nouveau Plan stratégique communautaire de l’Ontario français. Ce vote positif à la législature est une autre étape franchie envers l’aboutissement de ce grand projet. L’Assemblée souhaite que les législateurs et législatrices procèdent de manière expéditive pour en arriver à l’adoption du projet de loi en 3e lecture, l’étape définitive pour que ce projet voit le jour. La communauté attend depuis deux générations cette institution qui sera la leur, comme le sont les collèges La Cité et Boréal, l’Université de Hearst, et les conseils scolaires de langue française », a déclaré Denis Vaillancourt, président de L’Assemblée.

« Nous remercions les trois partis de s’être positionnés en faveur de la mise sur pied d'une nouvelle université gérée par et pour les francophones. Nous avons raison de célébrer ce nouveau jalon, mais il est important que la communauté demeure vigilante et continue à engager leurs député.e.s, peu importe leur parti, dans cette importante conversation », a partagé Geneviève Borris, coprésidente du RÉFO. Elle ajoute que « malgré les succès de la journée d’hier, nous attendons que le gouvernement aille encore plus loin qu'un appui de principe et partage, d'ici le début de l'hiver, ses échéanciers pour la nomination d'un conseil des gouverneurs de transition, qui pourra mettre sur pied cette université d'ici 2018. »

Le président de la FESFO, Jérémie J. Spadafora, souligne pour sa part l’urgence d’agir pour que les élèves du secondaire franco-ontarien aient de réelles options pour la poursuite de leurs études postsecondaires en français. « Un trop grand nombre d’élèves francophones n’ont toujours pas un accès adéquat à des programmes universitaires dans leur langue et dans leur région. Je célèbre aujourd’hui un pas important pour la jeunesse franco-ontarienne. Je représente des jeunes de la 9e à la 12e année et il est impératif que la majorité d’entre eux et elles aient l’option d’étudier dans la nouvelle université franco-ontarienne lorsque viendra leur graduation », a affirmé le président de la FESFO.

L’engouement qui entoure le projet de création d’une nouvelle université franco-ontarienne continue à grandir et les appuis de citoyen.ne.s, d’organismes, d’institutions et de leaders se multiplient de jour en jour. Les trois organismes partenaires souhaitent remercier la communauté franco-ontarienne pour sa mobilisation en faveur du mouvement et invitent la population à continuer à manifester publiquement son appui pour ce projet essentiel pour l’avenir de l’Ontario français.

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Corporate lawyer and Air Canada boss Calin Rovinescu named chancellor of U of O

The new chancellor Calin Rovinescu is going to fit right in... Compare: "Air Canada nearly doubles CEO Rovinescu’s pension" (Globe & Mail, April 21, 2015) and "Faculty association asks province to investigate raises given senior uOttawa administrators" (Ottawa Citizen, October 6, 2015)(and-this)(and-this).

A corporate lawyer who has made it a practice for Air Canada to disregard passenger rights and to use the courts in insisting on disregarding passenger rights will be the figurehead of the University of Ottawa: University-press-release.

Here is just one example of how Rovinescu instructs his Air Canada legal team to operate against unsuspecting travelers (Link-to-judge's-findings):

90 ... Air Canada failed to comply with an obligation that its customer service agent initially acknowledged existed, and instead acted as if some other form of compensation was appropriate for what had happened. It ignored, in other words, its own Tariff.

91 To add insult to injury it took the position that Mr Lachance was “mistaken” as to what flight he was on when he left Toronto for Vancouver. I think too I can take judicial notice of the fact that Air Canada presents itself to the public as a professional carrier which can be relied upon to provide positive travel experiences to its customers; to treat them with respect; and to honour their booked and confirmed itineraries to the extent possible. Air Canada recognized when it entered into its contract of carriage with Mr Lachance that a long and unexpected delay spent in an airport is neither a pleasant nor a happy experience, and that such a delay would cause some distress to him. (Indeed, this understanding is reflected in the fact that the compensatory damages payable under Rule 245AC increase with the length of the delay.) This then is an appropriate case for damages ...

This, in turn, is only apparent in the relatively few cases where the traveler goes all the way to a trial, and exposes the Air Canada lawyer tactics.

One more step in Allan Rock's corporatization of the institution. Shameful regression in our opinion.

Rancourt v St Lewis: Rancourt files REPLY in his application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court

Rancourt's REPLY

The defamation case funded by the University of Ottawa against former professor Denis Rancourt went to trial in 2014. The trial result was appealed by Rancourt to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. The appeal was dismissed. Rancourt is now seeking leave to appeal from the Supreme Court of Canada.

• The September 28, 2015, APPLICATION for leave to appeal is here: 

https://archive.org/details/PostFULLAPPLICATIONLTAAllWSigsOCR

• Rancourt filed a Notice of Constitutional Question to the Supreme Court on October 7, 2015.

Blogpost: http://uofowatch.blogspot.ca/2015/10/rancourt-v-st-lewis-rancourt-serves.html
Notice: https://archive.org/details/post--2015-10-07--NCQ--SCC36653--2--w-sig--w-stamp--OCR

• The October 29, 2015, RESPONSE of St. Lewis to the application is here:

https://archive.org/details/Post20151029RDResponseBookALLScanOCR

• The November 6, 2015, REPLY, as a 2-page correspondence, of Rancourt is here:

https://archive.org/details/SCCFile36653REPLY20151106RancourtVStLewis


That completes the filings for the application for leave to appeal.

All the steps of the entire proceedings since 2011 are reported on this blog: TAG-all-blogposts.

A short and incomplete video history of student activism at U of O...

Did you know about this YouTube channel "KrillKop"?

It has an eclectic collection of videos of past student activism against institutional logic at U of O.

Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Krillkop

Like the time Allan Rock lost his nerve with student Marc Kelly and yelled at him like a crazed university president...: HERE. (Marc had a recorder in his pocket.)

Or the time the Faculty of Science decided it needed hyper security against student walk-in inquiries...: HERE.

And many more.

"Maureen Robinson ... went so far as to liken her monitoring of Professor Rancourt as 'posing as a young girl to catch a pedophile'" --Divisional Court Judge

Union wins interim motion in appeal of the Rancourt dismissal

A short background summary of this recent leg of the protracted battle over the University of Ottawa's dismissal of tenured physics professor Denis Rancourt was given in this October 9 post (LINK).

Following the October 8 hearing of the university's interim motion to strike the union's affidavit in support of the union's application for judicial review... (the university wanted to deprive the union of evidence about what actually happened during the lengthy labour arbitration that upheld the dismissal)... Divisional Court (appellate court) Justice Robert Scott released his decision on October 26, 2015.

Justice Scott's decision is HERE.

Rancourt's union won the motion completely and unequivocally. The union's affidavit of evidence survives in whole, and is appended to the judge's decision, as "Appendix A" (HERE). This is the first significant positive judgement since the 2009 dismissal.

The judge's ruling gives an indication of how the university's extensive use of a hired student spy -- using unethical methods such as assuming false cyber identities and advancing false pretexts for collecting information from third parties, all condoned by the university and its legal counsel -- will be viewed by the higher courts, whereas the Arbitrator in the labour arbitration refused to accept its relevance (LINK).

Justice Scott put it this way (LINK):

MAUREEN ROBINSON

[15] The circumstances of Maureen Robinson's involvement in this entire matter is troubling at best. Throughout the relevant portion of the Award by Arbitrator Foisy, Ms. Robinson's written notes were referred to "the report on Professor Rancourt's address prepared by a University of Ottawa student"

[16] Pursuant to the Udell Affidavit, and based on evidence from the hearing, the student being Maureen Robinson was the editor of the student newspaper who had been hired by the University in what the University described as in a clerical capacity to assist Professor Rancourt in his office, without his input on her hiring.

[17] Either in consultation with her employer, the University, or on her own, she monitored the activities of Professor Rancourt both on and off campus and reported her finding back to the University. In an email to Dean Lalonde, she admitted to having a "personal grudge" against Professor Rancourt and went so far as to liken her monitoring of Professor Rancourt as "posing as a young girl to catch a pedophile". Ms. Robinson was not called as a witness at the hearing and, the parties agreed that her "report" would be considered as an "aide memoire" only.

[18] The University referred to the "report" thereafter as a transcript which such description was objected to by the APUO. Similarly, Arbitrator Foisy made certain findings which appear to be based solely on the report which was not evidence.

[19] Given the unique circumstances, paragraphs 3 - 13 are necessary and in keeping with Keeprite and Kingston Utilities, this affidavit evidence should be admitted on the judicial review to "show an absence of evidence on an essential point".

DEAN LALONDE'S CROSS-EXAMINATION AND THE TESTIMONY OF STUDENTS P AND V

[20] It is difficult to separate the input of the evidence or lack of evidence of Ms. Robinson and the circumstances of her somewhat bizarre involvement in this matter, from the other areas of concern identified by the Applicant, APUO. [...]

And see the background about the motion hearing itself: HERE.

Maureen Robinson did her BSc in chemistry at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 2010. She then moved to Australia to do her MSc, and is now employed at Golder Associates, in West Perth, Australia. The university did not make her available to be cross-examined during the labour arbitration that ended in 2013.

Maureen Robinson's fake Facebook identity was "Nathalie Page". In her regular email reports to the dean of science and to the then university legal counsel Michelle Flaherty, Robinson would joke: "Hi, It's Nathalie...", when sending emails from a fake gmail account. This was the fake Facebook profile picture for "Nathalie":

Fake picture for the false cyber identity "Nathalie Page" created by Maureen Robinson

These exhibits (LINK) describe some of Robinson's detailed reports to the university.