The bill will require universities to develop an academic-freedom policy and appoint a person responsible for its oversight, with councils to hear complaints and hand out penalties when these policies are violated
The Quebec government says university professors should be able to use any words they deem necessary in the classroom, provided those words are used in an academic context and meet standards of ethics and science.
The proposed law stems from the work of a commission led by former Parti Québécois minister and university administrator Alexandre Cloutier, who delivered a report last year that recommended the government legislate protections for academic freedom. As part of its report, the Cloutier commission conducted a poll that found that 60 per cent of Quebec university instructors said they self-censored and avoided using certain words.
Quebec's Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann tables the academic freedom initiative at the legislature in Quebec City on April 6.Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said the proposed law may not be passed before a Quebec election expected this fall, but it provides the Premier with a campaign issue that has broad public support.
James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, said academic freedom is entrenched at all Canadian universities, so a provincial law of this kind would be a departure from established tradition.
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