Members of the Mount Royal University community gathered by the dozens on Sept. 24 to protest against what they say has been continued government interference in academic freedom and collective bargaining.
Around 100 members of the Mount Royal Faculty Association, the Mount Royal Staff Association, along with some students, gathered over the noon hour to protest Bill 18, ostensibly the Defending Alberta’s Provincial Priorities Act.
That act, which received royal assent on May 30, requires prior provincial approval from the Government of Alberta before provincial entities including post-secondary institutions can make agreements with the federal government, or federal government entities.
The purpose of that bill was to push back against overreach by the Government of Canada, according to the Government of Alberta, but academics say that the bill is instead an overreach by the province into their academic freedom.
“What we find somewhat offensive about the bill, is that it will place serious restrictions on our researchers to be able to do their work,” said Brenda Lang, President of the Mount Royal Faculty Association (MRFA).
“What’s particularly ironic is that Danielle Smith has told us that it’s to increase transparency and improve processes… and to ensure that the federal government doesn’t insert its ideologies, and yet, what the provincial government is actually doing is exactly that, because the vetting process will include ensuring that the research aligns with provincial priorities.”
The bill has been decried by institutional leaders and academics from across Alberta, including University of Alberta President Bill Flanagan and political scientist and expert in inter-governmental affairs, Dr. Jared Wesley.
Lang said that if the Government of Alberta decides that an area of research doesn’t align with provincial priorities, the province can block it from being funded by the federal government.
Something she said that has been putting a chilling effect on research and is likely to cause the top researchers in Alberta to go elsewhere.
“It appears that the politicians who designed the bill didn’t understand… how research funding works. The tri-agencies, the federal agencies that grant the funds, aren’t actually part of the government,” said Lang.
“The funds come from the government, but these are totally separate entities that are made up of researchers from across Canada, including some of our own Alberta researchers, who actually look at the validity of the projects themselves, not necessarily the topics.”
In April, before Bill 18 passing, former MRFA president Lee Easton identified areas that were potentially impacted as ranging from the social sciences to areas of national defence.
“The purpose of research is new discovery: innovation, answering questions that remain unanswered, and that requires researchers to take risks, and to be willing to explore. It’s tied to academic freedom Our academic freedom means that we can explore issues without threat of being constrained,” said Lang.
Constitutional labour rights also felt to be threatened by Alberta Government
In a statement sent in response to questions posed by LWC, Varun Chandrasekar, Press Secretary for the Ministry of Advanced Education said that Alberta’s government was committed to ensuring that federal funding aligned with provincial priorities and investments, “to maximize outcomes for all Albertans.”
“Advanced Education has been actively engaging post-secondary institutions, in a series of open and informative discussions since spring 2024 to ensure regulations are developed in a way that streamlines approval processes and avoids adding administrative burden to post-secondaries. Mount Royal University has been a part of this engagement at every step.”
“We are working to develop and implement regulations to ensure Alberta’s post-secondary institutions maintain access to research and other funding from the federal government, while safeguarding Alberta’s interests.”
Lang said they wanted the Government of Alberta to re-examine Bill 18.
“Ideally what we would like is for the bill to be repealed. Barring that, what we would like is an exemption for post-secondary, so that our researchers can continue to do their work,” said Lang.
She said that the participation of students in Tuesday’s protest was important because the effects of Bill 18 were likely to affect the employment prospects of students.
“Last year alone, here at Mount Royal, and we are not primarily a research institution, but approximately 135 of our students were employed as research assistants, which is tied to that funding,” she said.
“So, if there’s a decrease in funding, there’s a decrease in employment for our students as well. They won’t have the opportunity to work alongside researchers doing cutting-edge research.”
Michelle LoGullo, President of the Mount Royal Staff Association (MRSA), said that they were supporting the MRFA, due to the potential problems that could come from reduced funding for researchers.
“There already is a satisfactory—a very long, arduous process—to approve that kind of funding request. So, we stand unified with the faculty and in their concerns regarding that,” LoGullo said.
She said that in addition to concerns over Bill 18, the MRSA was joining in the protest to ensure that the constitutionally protected collective bargaining rights of MRU staff were respected by the Government of Alberta.
“Our main ask as a staff association is for the government to step back from our collective bargaining process. This should be between the employees and the employer. The government does not have a right to be in our collective bargaining process,” LoGullo said.
“They’re bringing with them some preconceived notions of what they want to see happen, and that doesn’t necessarily align with what we are doing here. This is our house. We know what’s going on in our house. The government does not have a say in what happens in our house.”
The protest was held in conjunction with ongoing collective bargaining between the MRSA and MRU, with picketers chanting slogans in support of the MRSA bargaining team as they walked across campus at noon.
- Editor’s note: The original story indicated that the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University (SAMRU) attended the rally. They did not attend as an organization, they said later. They said they were asked to attend and speak, but they “respectfully declined.” We regret the error.
