High-profile writer forced out over a Maclean’s column in what’s being called an attack on academic freedom
- 主题发起人 sabre
- 发布时间 2017-03-24
Andrew Potter has resigned as director of McGill University’s Institute for the Study of Canada, two days after writing a controversial Maclean’s column that infuriated many Quebecers and triggered a heated debate over academic freedom.
In a brief interview Wednesday night, Potter confirmed that he submitted a letter of resignation earlier in the day to MISC’s board of directors and to the university’s dean of arts. On Thursday morning, he released a further statement on Facebook, saying he chose to step down from “the dream job of a lifetime” because of “the ongoing negative reaction within the university community and the broader public to my column.”
In a brief interview Wednesday night, Potter confirmed that he submitted a letter of resignation earlier in the day to MISC’s board of directors and to the university’s dean of arts. On Thursday morning, he released a further statement on Facebook, saying he chose to step down from “the dream job of a lifetime” because of “the ongoing negative reaction within the university community and the broader public to my column.”
On Monday, Maclean’s website published an opinion piece in which Potter suggested that a recent snowstorm-induced traffic jam in Montreal had exposed something much larger: that “Quebec is an almost pathologically alienated and low-trust society, deficient in many of the most basic forms of social capital that other Canadians take for granted.”
How a snowstorm exposed Quebec’s real problem: social malaise
The issues that led to the shutdown of a Montreal highway that left drivers stranded go beyond mere political dysfunction
Andrew Potter
March 20, 2017
Controversy that erupted in Quebec immediately after this piece was published caused the author to write a Facebook post, which can be found here.
We also wish to correct two errors of fact. Due to an editing error, a reference in an earlier version of this piece noted that “every restaurant” offered two bills. We have clarified this to say “some restaurants will offer you two bills.”
We have also removed a reference in an earlier version noting that “bank machines routinely dispense fifties by default.”
Major public crises tend to have one of two effects on a society. In the best cases, they serve to reveal the strength of the latent bonds of trust and social solidarity that lie dormant as we hurry about the city in our private bubbles—a reminder of the strength of our institutions and our selves, in the face of infrastructure. Such was the case in New York after 9/11, and across much of the northeast during the great blackout of 2003.
But sometimes the opposite occurs. The slightest bit of stress works its way into the underlying cracks of the body politic, a crisis turns those cracks to fractures, and the very idea of civil society starts to look like a cheapo paint job from a chiseling body shop. Exhibit A: The mass breakdown in the social order that saw 300 cars stranded overnight in the middle of a major Montreal highway during a snowstorm last week.
The fiasco is being portrayed as a political scandal, marked by administrative laziness, weak leadership, and a failure of communication. And while the episode certainly contains plenty of that, what is far more worrisome is the way it reveals the essential malaise eating away at the foundations of Quebec society.
Compared to the rest of the country, Quebec is an almost pathologically alienated and low-trust society, deficient in many of the most basic forms of social capital that other Canadians take for granted. This is at odds with the standard narrative; a big part of Quebec’s self-image—and one of the frequently-cited excuses for why the province ought to separate—is that it is a more communitarian place than the rest of Canada, more committed to the common good and the pursuit of collectivist goals.
But you don’t have to live in a place like Montreal very long to experience the tension between that self-image and the facts on the ground. The absence of solidarity manifests itself in so many different ways that it becomes part of the background hiss of the city.
To start with one glaring example, the police here don’t wear proper uniforms. Since 2014, municipal police across the province have worn pink, yellow, and red clownish camo pants as a protest against provincial pension reforms. They have also plastered their cruisers with stickers demanding “libre nego”—”free negotiations”—and in many cases the stickers actually cover up the police service logo. The EMS workers have now joined in; nothing says you’re in good hands like being driven to the hospital in an ambulance covered in stickers that read “On Strike.” While this might speak to the limited virtues of collective bargaining, the broader impact on social cohesion and trust in institutions remains corrosive.
How a snowstorm exposed Quebec’s real problem: social malaise
The issues that led to the shutdown of a Montreal highway that left drivers stranded go beyond mere political dysfunction
Andrew Potter
March 20, 2017
Controversy that erupted in Quebec immediately after this piece was published caused the author to write a Facebook post, which can be found here.
We also wish to correct two errors of fact. Due to an editing error, a reference in an earlier version of this piece noted that “every restaurant” offered two bills. We have clarified this to say “some restaurants will offer you two bills.”
We have also removed a reference in an earlier version noting that “bank machines routinely dispense fifties by default.”
Major public crises tend to have one of two effects on a society. In the best cases, they serve to reveal the strength of the latent bonds of trust and social solidarity that lie dormant as we hurry about the city in our private bubbles—a reminder of the strength of our institutions and our selves, in the face of infrastructure. Such was the case in New York after 9/11, and across much of the northeast during the great blackout of 2003.
But sometimes the opposite occurs. The slightest bit of stress works its way into the underlying cracks of the body politic, a crisis turns those cracks to fractures, and the very idea of civil society starts to look like a cheapo paint job from a chiseling body shop. Exhibit A: The mass breakdown in the social order that saw 300 cars stranded overnight in the middle of a major Montreal highway during a snowstorm last week.
The fiasco is being portrayed as a political scandal, marked by administrative laziness, weak leadership, and a failure of communication. And while the episode certainly contains plenty of that, what is far more worrisome is the way it reveals the essential malaise eating away at the foundations of Quebec society.
Compared to the rest of the country, Quebec is an almost pathologically alienated and low-trust society, deficient in many of the most basic forms of social capital that other Canadians take for granted. This is at odds with the standard narrative; a big part of Quebec’s self-image—and one of the frequently-cited excuses for why the province ought to separate—is that it is a more communitarian place than the rest of Canada, more committed to the common good and the pursuit of collectivist goals.
But you don’t have to live in a place like Montreal very long to experience the tension between that self-image and the facts on the ground. The absence of solidarity manifests itself in so many different ways that it becomes part of the background hiss of the city.
To start with one glaring example, the police here don’t wear proper uniforms. Since 2014, municipal police across the province have worn pink, yellow, and red clownish camo pants as a protest against provincial pension reforms. They have also plastered their cruisers with stickers demanding “libre nego”—”free negotiations”—and in many cases the stickers actually cover up the police service logo. The EMS workers have now joined in; nothing says you’re in good hands like being driven to the hospital in an ambulance covered in stickers that read “On Strike.” While this might speak to the limited virtues of collective bargaining, the broader impact on social cohesion and trust in institutions remains corrosive.
这人可能用词过于凌厉，但魁省的反应，也太夸张了吧，活活的井底之蛙，讳疾忌医，敏感易怒，一摸就跳了。。。。
基本上没自信才这样。
经验，黑人问题，最好别说，如果非要说，最好得黑人说，不是黑人的说了，就是歧视。
同理，首先魁省就没问题，就算真有问题，只能由魁省的人说，说的人还得是francophone, 你一个刚刚过江的anglophone，居然敢在一个英语杂志上指指点点，不撒泡尿照照下镜子？
如果是外省的，也没法子，你现在在俺们地头上乞食，新茅厕还不收费，踩起来没成本，当然人人争相来踩一脚。。
魁省议员可以考虑联邦上整个M131动议，禁止非议魁省，不然就是quebecoisphobia.....
基本上没自信才这样。
经验，黑人问题，最好别说，如果非要说，最好得黑人说，不是黑人的说了，就是歧视。
同理，首先魁省就没问题，就算真有问题，只能由魁省的人说，说的人还得是francophone, 你一个刚刚过江的anglophone，居然敢在一个英语杂志上指指点点，不撒泡尿照照下镜子？
如果是外省的，也没法子，你现在在俺们地头上乞食，新茅厕还不收费，踩起来没成本，当然人人争相来踩一脚。。
魁省议员可以考虑联邦上整个M131动议，禁止非议魁省，不然就是quebecoisphobia.....
不行吧，
加拿大的大学， 政府补助老多钱了， mcgill这种大学， 这么点学费， 没补助的话， 早关门了，
Peter Loewen, director of the school of public policy and governance at the University of Toronto, says this issue extends well beyond one person and one magazine article. “If Andrew Potter has been made to resign from McGill, every professor at that institution should now ask themselves the following question: ‘Are they more or less secure now in their intellectual endeavours today than they were yesterday?’ ” he said. “It seems to me that they are less secure, because what you have now is this nagging sense that if you say something that steps over the line, your university will, as quickly as possible, cut you loose.”
整个事件， 是一个黑箱操作，
我们看到魁省政府出面批判作者，
然后看到mcgill摘干净自己，
然后， 作者辞职，
只有一个结论， 魁省政府施加了压力， 而且压力挺大， 不然不会几天的功夫就辞职，
第二个结论， mcgill 不是独立的学术单位， 不管它是不是政府的一部分， 他自己没有独立性，
第三个结论， 体制内的学者以后发言要小心了， 有什么不满， 论坛里匿名说说就行了，
我们看到魁省政府出面批判作者，
然后看到mcgill摘干净自己，
然后， 作者辞职，
只有一个结论， 魁省政府施加了压力， 而且压力挺大， 不然不会几天的功夫就辞职，
第二个结论， mcgill 不是独立的学术单位， 不管它是不是政府的一部分， 他自己没有独立性，
第三个结论， 体制内的学者以后发言要小心了， 有什么不满， 论坛里匿名说说就行了，
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