Newsletter

September 2011

Carleton Univerersity Response To SAFS

August 29, 2011

Dr. Clive Seligman

President

Society for Academic Freedom and
Scholarship

1673 Richmond Street, #344

London, ON N6G 4Y2

Dear Dr. Seligman,

Thank you for your e-mail message and
letter to President Runte, dated Monday August 15^th, in which you
express concern at the wording of our position advertisement for a two-year
Visiting Aboriginal Scholar. President Runte has asked me to look into your
concerns and respond to your letter.

At Carleton, we are making a serious
effort to engage with the Aboriginal community in Canada, and our Aboriginal
Affairs Task Force recently developed a strategy document which received formal
approval from our Senate in June. Increasing the Aboriginal presence on our
campus is an important goal. As part of those discussions and deliberations, we
came to realize some of the barriers faced by young Aboriginal scholars in
obtaining their first academic position. At the same time, we know from
discussions with our Aboriginal students of the importance of having role models
drawn from their own communities. Education is not simply about the transfer of
information from one person to another; it is also about the process of
knowledge acquisition and mentorship. We support the concept of “merit” and we
realize that there are many aspects to its definition.

The Visiting Scholar position is but
a small step along this important road. It is intended to give the equivalent
of a post-doctoral fellowship to a recently graduated Aboriginal scholar, while
at the same time allowing them to develop a track-record of teaching. This is
one-time-only position, established for this very specific and strategic
purpose, with half of the funding being provided by an external donor.

At the time of developing the
position, we conferred closely with legal counsel and with our Equity Office to
ensure compliance with relevant legislation. As you may know, Section 15.2 of
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides explicit protection
for initiatives of this sort, aimed at assisting groups who have historically
been disadvantaged or discriminated against. The Federal Contractor’s
Employment Equity program expects that institutions will implement special
measures where under-representation of a specific designated group is found.
The purpose of special measures is to take away the effects of past barriers and
to support short-term goals. The Ontario Human Rights Code (section 14)
contains similar provisions to meet particular needs, help reduce
discrimination, and correct historical disadvantage.”

We fully understand and appreciate
the concerns you are raising, and we support their application for most hiring
situations. However, we feel that there are specific cases where exceptional
conditions are appropriate and permitted, and that this is one of those
exceptions.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Ricketts, Ph.D.

Provost and Vice-President (Academic).