Fired ombudsman finds Rock unfit and asks U of O president to resign

This is the latest development in the Fulcrum scandal component of UofOgate at the University of Ottawa.

Former Fulcrum Publishing Society Ombudsman Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya has asked University of Ottawa President Allan Rock to resign (see excerpt below):

"Rock should have been aware that hiring Appleyard, after Frank wrote critically of Rancourt, would appear like a reward and was an infringement of ethical norms expected for the governance of a publicly funded institution. Rock has damaged his credibility and is unfit. As such, I am publicly asking Allan Rock to resign as President."


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: M.D. Nazemroaya
Date: Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 7:26 PM
Subject: OPEN LETTER TO THE FPS and HEADS OF THE SFUO , GSAÉD, & U OF O
To: editor@thefulcrum.ca
Cc: president@sfuo.ca, news@thefulcrum.ca, mheba053@uottawa.ca, vp.communications@sfuo.ca, n.taylor.vaisey@gmail.com, , actualites@larotonde.ca, redaction@larotonde.ca, external@gsaed.ca, studentlife@gsaed.ca, charlatan@charlatan.ca, times@algonquincollege.com, university@gsaed.ca, internal@gsaed.ca, allan.rock@uottawa.ca

Hello Emma, here is my letter that we discussed. Please publish it the upcoming issue of The Fulcrum:

OPEN LETTER TO THE FPS and HEADS OF THE SFUO, GSAÉD, & U OF O

I was the Fulcrum Publishing Society (FPS) Ombudsman until the start of March 2010, when I was removed by the Board of Directors (BOD). This was the buildup of a sequence of events launched by the investigation of a formal complaint by Denis Rancourt. BOD members gave me two choices: obey them as a subordinate or pack up.
[…]
Appleyard breached the FPS Constitution by simultaneously working for Allan Rock and the FPS. This was a conflict of interest. […]
[…]
Appearances are pertinent for judging conflicts of interest. Did Allan Rock forget about the Conflict of Interest Code in Parliament? Rock should have been aware that hiring Appleyard, after Frank wrote critically of Rancourt, would appear like a reward and was an infringement of ethical norms expected for the governance of a publicly funded institution. Rock has damaged his credibility and is unfit. As such, I am publicly asking Allan Rock to resign as President.

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
Former FPS Ombudsman

UofOgate: Fulcrum gives 'cover up' a whole new meaning

Fulcrum pulls peanut butter stain defence to cover Rock and Appleyard

The March 4, 2010, weekly print edition of the U of O student newspaper, The Fulcrum, is out on the stands.

It is remarkable in two respects.

First, despite numerous requests to the editors, it completely avoids news coverage of the Fulcrum scandal that has been raging since the Fulcrum Board of Directors suspended and fired its Ombudsman in mid-investigation. (See French student media coverage HERE.)

Second, this little item in a box at the bottom of page 21:

Excuse me? Fulcrum Business Manager Frank Appleyard, who threatened to sue over false accusations, was in "technical breach" of the Constitution ... but only because "Typographical errors in Sections 1.01 (i) and (l) of the Constitution suggest [as in state] that employees of the Business Department are subject to its provisions."

"In an effort to clarify its [conflict of interest] policy, the Society is in the process of making amendments to the Constitution..." ...so it says what we says it means... (Recall: They fired their Ombudsman over differences in "interpretation" of the Constitution.)

Wow.

If we find we are "technically" breaking the rules then we must change the rules so that their "intent" is clear. Holy poo poo. That tops the Rock admin approach of "if we are criticized for our actions then we will introduce a policy to legitimize what we want to do (e.g., promised 'donor recognition policy').

Why not just state that Appleyard had a peanut butter stain on his copy of the Constitution when he accepted the job under Rock while he was Business Manager of the Fulcrum and that Rock forgot that he was no longer a Liberal MP.

[Photo: Business Manager Frank Appleyard and Editor-in-Chief Emma Godmere - total separation between the business and editorial departments?]

Now it's time to change the Constitution so that it allows conflict of interest? Brilliant move.

It's right up there with the Publisher of The Ottawa Citizen (Jim Orban) being on the Board of Governors (BOG) of the University of Ottawa while Rock writes invited editorials and receives personal advance notices from Orban about editorials critical of dissident professor Rancourt, not to mention media-reported undisclosed contracts for naming publicly funded campus spaces in exchange for "editorial support".

As Frank Appleyard has learned, "editorial support" has a mercantile value...

What was that job? How was it advertised? What special talents were required? How was student tuition money being spent? An investigation is in order. Ooops, we fired the Ombudsman.

U of O student newspaper Business Manager Frank Appleyard threatens legal action against UofOWatch blog posts

What was Mr. Rock Thinking?

In two recent posts (HERE and HERE) we reported breaches of professional journalistic ethics by staff and journalists at The Fulcrum (U of O student newspaper) regarding Fulcrum staff and journalist treatment of former U of O physics professor Denis Rancourt.


Fulcrum Business Manager Frank Appleyard objects to some of the content in the two posts and believes that he has been unjustly defamed.

In particular, it appears that U of O's President Allan Rock hired Appleyard in 2009 to reward him for his critical editorial coverage of Rancourt.

The best way for Mr. Appleyard's objections to be fully and accurately represented is to post his detailed letter of protest. Appleyard's letter is posted HERE.

This way readers can judge for themselves.

The Fulcrum Publishing Society (FPS) Ombudsman has a perspective at odds with that of Appleyard and an interpretation of his own Ombudsman's Interim Report that is relevant in the matter of the alleged unjustified defamation of Appleyard.

The FPS Ombudsman's reaction and clarification is posted HERE.

It appears that Mr. Appleyard (and the FPS Board of Directors) did not read the FPS Constitution all the way down to Section 12; the "Conflict of Interest Policy" section. As pointed out by the Ombudsman, the meaning and intent of Section 12 are quite clear.

[The FPS Ombudsman was immediately suspended by the FPS Board of Directors following the release of his Interim Report, for not agreeing to perform his duties as directed by the Board - for doing his job. At the time of this posting he had not yet been removed from his position.]