Student protests continue in Montreal

Violence broke out in the streets of Montreal on the night of Mar. 5, as students protested the tuition fee increase recently announced by the Parti Québécois (PQ). Police declared the march illegal, as the protestors did not provide a route as required by municipal law. Some protestors smashed the windows of a bank and hotel, and police claimed students defaced patrol cars with cans of spray paint. Fifty students were arrested, and at least one student and one officer were injured near Montreal’s Chinatown district.

A new wave of protests has taken place since late February, following the PQ’s declaration at the Summit on Higher Education—which occurred on Feb. 25 and 26—that it would index tuition at three per cent per year starting next Fall. Many students were expecting the provincial government to freeze tuition, after the PQ cancelled the former Liberal government’s tuition increase in September 2012.

B.C. Liberals scandal over ‘ethnic outreach’ document

On Mar. 7, leaders of several First Nations and cultural groups—including the Union of B.C. Chiefs, the Progressive Inter-Cultural Services Society, and the Head Tax Families Society of Canada—called on the B.C. Liberal Party to stop using restorative justice as an election campaign strategy. 

This action follows the unveiling of the B.C. Liberals’ Multicultural Strategic Outreach Plan, which the NDP leaked. This document includes several proposals, one of which included using official apologies for historical injuries to entice First Nations and Chinese citizens to vote for the Liberals in the upcoming May 14 provincial elections.

“It represents a deep sense of betrayal and we find it highly offensive,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Chiefs, told the CBC.

Since the disclosure of the ‘ethnic outreach’ document, Liberal Premier Christy Clark has issued three apologies. Liberal Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Haakstad, who helped draft the plan, resigned on Mar. 1. 

Canada creates thousands of new jobs in February

Statistics Canada reported last week that 51,000 jobs were created in Canada in February—a figure that is six times bigger than the amount predicted by economists. 

The increase in employment was spread between both part-time and full-time work, and across most industries, and it occurred primarily in Ontario and B.C. Most of the people who filled the new positions were aged 55 or above. However, the unemployment rate remained relatively stable in February, as the number of new jobs matched the number of new Canadians seeking employment.

Both politicians and economists are optimistic about these strong results; however, Scotia Economics Vice-President Derek Holt pointed to areas where improvement can still be made.

“If there is a fly in the ointment, it lies in the fact that a big job gain, nonetheless, coincided with no growth in paycheques for all workers combined during the month, as evidenced by flat wages and flat hours worked,” Holt told the CBC. 

PQ cancels mandatory english immersion

Marie Malavoy, Quebec’s Education Minister, announced on Mar. 7 that English immersion classes in French schools will no longer be mandatory. This decision effectively cancels a program set up by the previous Liberal government in 2011 that required grade 6 students to enroll in intensive English immersion classes for half of the school year. 

According to The Montreal Gazette, Malavoy said that it would be unrealistic to have every single grade 6 student in Quebec attend these classes, and that school boards were having trouble hiring qualified teachers to instruct in these programs.

However, Malavoy also said that the Parti Québécois (PQ) will not ban the immersion program, and that schools may continue to implement it if they wish. As of this school year, only 12 per cent of grade 6 classrooms had successfully integrated the program.

A representative from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Natalie Roy, criticized Malavoy for promoting confusion by giving school boards more flexibility while also implying that the PQ wants to slow down further implementation of immersion programs, according to The Gazette.

Supreme Court makes decision on MB land claims case

On Mar. 8, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered its judgment on a historic Manitoba land claims dispute, where a majority of the justices ruled that the federal government’s distribution of land to children of the region’s Métis population in the late 19th century was unconstitutional.

The legal dispute’s roots can be traced back to 1870, the year that Manitoba became a Canadian province. The federal government promised that 5,565 square km of land would be reserved for Métis children. However, it did not follow through with its agreement, and turned a blind eye as new settlers in the province bought much of the land that was promised at very low prices.

The Supreme Court’s judgment means that the current Conservative government potentially faces extensive negotiations with the province’s Métis. According to CTV News, Métis spokespeople have said that they do not intend to demand their land back, which includes all of present-day Winnipeg. However, they will seek financial compensation for the historic wrongdoing.

On Feb. 19, William Hendershot, associate dean (academic) of the faculty of agriculture and environmental sciences, housed at the Macdonald Campus, issued an internal memorandum to program directors and specialization coordinators regarding impending cuts to courses offered at McGill’s satellite campus.

“In light of the severe financial situation of the University, it is quite possible that we will be faced with the need to decrease the number of courses we teach,” Hendershot said in the memorandum.

Hendershot also wrote that he had examined all courses taught at Macdonald Campus, and identified those that did not seem to be crucial aspect of any program. These courses, according to Hendershot, were mostly ones that do not exist as a prerequisite for other courses.

Hendershot asked that program directors also examine their courses to determine which ones they believe to be of lowest importance and to pay attention to classes with low enrollment.

“We need to be ready to manage any cuts in a less damaging fashion,” the memorandum continues. “Remember, that cutting the number of courses doesn’t necessarily mean that we will lose students—most of them will choose their courses from those we do teach.”

However, since the memorandum was released, contradictory statements have been made regarding the correlation between budget cuts and course cuts.

“The discussion [of course cuts] has nothing to do with the current budget situation,” Chandra Madramootoo, dean of the faculty of agriculture and environmental sciences, and associate vice-principal of McGill, said. “It is part of a university-wide process started many years ago to eliminate or reduce low enrollment courses. So it is unfortunate that this is being presented in light of the current budget situation.”

The memorandum included a list of over 60 courses that Hendershot believes could be dropped with the least amount of impact. Fifteen of those courses are in the department of bio-resource engineering.

The discussion regarding course cuts will continue throughout March.

“This has nothing to do with the popularity of the various courses, but rather how critical they are to the education of the students in your program,” Hendershot told program directors in the memorandum.

The date of the official announcement of next year’s course offerings has not yet been decided.

The McGill administration has come under scrutiny following its announcement on Feb. 20 that McGill is now a member of the edX consortium—a not-for-profit enterprise specializing in online interactive learning. Several members of the McGill Senate have criticized the senior administration for failing to communicate with Senate about the initiative.

McGill will use edX to design, develop, and offer “Massive Online Open Courses” (MOOCs), which will be ready in 2014. Provost Anthony Masi said that that the opportunity for McGill to partner with edX will benefit the university in several ways.

“Membership in edX will position McGill at the forefront of what many are calling a ‘revolution’ in teaching and learning,” he told the Tribune. “Further, edX provides us with the opportunity for improving blended, and other technology-assisted courses offered on our campuses.”

The idea of offering MOOCs was brought forward in a discussion facilitated in part by Masi at the Senate meeting on Jan. 23. MOOCs were not discussed at the following Senate meeting on Feb. 19. According to Masi, the executive committee of the Board of Governors (BoG) approved the partnership between McGill and edX on Feb. 15.

During an interview with the Tribune, Senator Catherine Lu—who is also an associate professor of political science—suggested that the decision to incorporate MOOCS into McGill’s academic mission should have been brought to a vote at Senate.

“By having this open discussion [at the Jan. 23 Senate meeting] … the Provost created the expectation that recommendations from the working groups regarding MOOCs —including joining a consortium— would be brought to Senate for approval,” she said. “This is why I and many other Senators were surprised to receive the Provost’s email announcement that McGill had joined the edX consortium.”

Masi said that Senators gave their approval for MOOCs by endorsing the Achieving Strategic Academic Priorities (ASAP 2012), an academic policy paper detailing a five-year plan for McGill.

“McGill’s interest in harnessing technology to transform teaching and learning is outlined in [ASAP 2012],” he said.

Lu said that Masi’s explanation has prompted her to further question the process through which McGill joined edX.

“If the senior administration wants to argue, that by endorsing ASAP 2012, Senate actually did endorse MOOCs … then I don’t see the point of having a Senate at all,” she said. “By endorsing ASAP, Senate would have forfeited all of its decision-making authority with respect to all academic activities of the university.”

“In my view, this cannot be the correct interpretation of Senate’s endorsement of ASAP,” Lu continued. “Senate may have to reconsider what this endorsement really means.”

Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) President Josh Redel and SSMU Vice-President University Affairs Haley Dinel, both of whom are student senators, said they do not believe that the decision to join edX necessarily required Senate approval.

“edX is a platform, and things like that don’t need to go through Senate, because they are not inherently academic—though the content of them is, which should, and will go through Senate,” Redel said. “For example, we did not approve myCourses2 … nor Minerva … at Senate, because they are only platforms for academic programs.”

At the same time, both Redel and Dinel share Lu’s concern about the lack of communication in the decision-making process to join the MOOC consortium.

“I think our discussion at Senate [on Jan. 23] could have been more transparent,” Dinel said. “It should have been made much clearer … that a lot of work had already gone into looking at these options. There … should have been more public discourse as to which consortium to pick.”

According to Masi, McGill’s MOOCs will be designed and developed by McGill faculty members. Masi confirmed that Senate will be involved in important decisions related to content and design as the project advances.

Masi also emphasized that no funds from the university’s operating budget will be used towards the initiative, and that McGill’s MOOCs will be funded purely through philanthropic support.

Despite the concerns they voiced about transparency, there is general agreement among Redel, Dinel, and Lu that McGill’s plan to offer MOOCs is an innovative and beneficial initiative.

“My complaint here is not that the BoG and senior administration approved joining the edX consortium per se,” Lu explained. “The basic problem here is a massive disconnect in the university’s governance process of approving this important development for McGill’s academic mission.”