Does the dismissal of Dr. Frances Widdowson from Mount Royal University signal a threat to academic freedom in Canada’s post-secondary institutions?
Academic freedom includes… Freedom to express one’s opinion about the institution, its administration, and the system in which one works… Freedom from institutional censorship…
Post-secondary educational institutions serve the common good of society through searching for, and disseminating, knowledge and understanding and through fostering independent thinking and expression in academic staff and students… These ends cannot be achieved without academic freedom.
All academic staff must have the right to fulfil their functions without reprisal or repression by the institution, the state, or any other source… contracts which are silent on the matter of academic freedom do not entitle the employer to breach or threaten in any way the academic freedom of academic staff…
Academic staff must not be hindered or impeded in exercising their civil rights as individuals, including the right to contribute to social change through free expression of opinion on matters of public interest. Academic staff must not suffer any institutional penalties because of the exercise of such rights.
Canadian Association of University Teachers, “Academic Freedom: CAUT Policy Statement” (April 20, 2025)
Dr. Frances Widdowson earned an Honours BA and MA in political science from the University of Victoria and a PhD in political science from York University. She worked as a policy analyst in the Northwest Territories. She developed an interest in Indigenous culture in Canada and what she called Canada’s “Indigenous industry.”
Academic Tenure and the Rise of a Controversial Voice
She joined the Mount Royal University Department of Economics, Justice and Policy Studies in 2008, earning tenure in 2011. She taught courses in political science and comparative politics with focus on policy analysis. Her case represents a broader clash between evolving institutional norms of conduct tied to equity and academic freedom.
As with many universalist claimed values, the praxis is the real test, because these values clash in real life. The balance of values is tested in real-life cases, sometimes individual persons. The focus will be Dr. Widdowson and the case at Mount Royal University.
With a career as a policy analyst and tenured professor at Mount Royal University (c. 2011), Dr. Widdowson was critical of “woke” movements and Indigenous policy. She provided open critiques of Indigenous research paradigms. The most notable period was 2018. A Twitter (now X) dialogue, heated debate. This led to harassment complaints.
In February, 2018, she publicly questioned traditional Indigenous research methods at Mount Royal University. She made the argument: certain approaches prioritized funding over community needs. This drew strong criticism. Some labelled Dr. Widdowson with the epithet “racist.” Columnist Barbara Kay defended Dr. Widdowson as an academic challenging accepted narratives about residential schools. Kay framed the critiques as probing rather than hateful.
The Twitter War and Institutional Fallout
Dr. Widdowson engaged in heated exchanges with colleagues during 2020. Mount Royal University labelled this the “Twitter War.” Public disputes ranged from aspects of the Black Lives matter movement, e.g., Black Lives Matter “destroyed MRU,” to more. In July, 2021, Dr. Widdowson filed a harassment complaint against a colleague’s tweets. In November, 2021, an investigation claimed the complaint was “malicious, frivolous, vexatious, and made in bad faith.” At the same time, Mount Royal University’s probe concluded Dr. Widdowson’s tweets constituted harassment. Mount Royal University dismissed Dr. Widdowson on December 20, 2021.
Mount Royal University President Tim Rahilly signed the termination letter for Dr. Widdowson. Nine satirical tweets and one complaint were cited as grounds for the violation of harassment and conduct codes. On that afternoon, after delivering an exam, Dr. Widdowson was requested by human resources. She was informed. Her employment was terminated effective immediately (then). She recalls the experience as procedurally opaque and distressing.
Arbitration, Aftermath, and the Future of Academic Freedom
Dr. Widdowson received a termination letter. 30 hearing days occurred over ten months between January 27th, 2023 and November, 2023. Eventually, it was 30 hearing days with 25 witnesses. These hearings scrutinized fairness of procedures, i.e., collective agreement compliance as well as the basis for dismissal, i.e., academic expression versus policy violations.
Arbitrator David Phillip Jones ruled on July 2, 2024: Widdowson’s tweets warranted discipline (“just cause”), while the firing was “disproportionate to her actions.” No compelling evidence was found that the conduct posed an irreparable threat to the academic environment. A letter of reprimand was substituted for the two-week suspension, but reinstatement was deemed non-viable because of the significant breakdown in professional relationships. A monetary remedy was awarded in lieu of reinstatement. Dr. Widdowson has expressed satisfaction at acknowledgement of wrongful dismissal. She continues to challenge aspects of the harassment findings and continues in advocacy for academic freedom.
Some might see the wrongful dismissal as evidence of tenure as not immunizing from consequences for harassing behaviour. Others may contend the dismissal represents a threat to contentious topic debate and dialogue, even heated. Dr. Widdowson has given lectures on “woke-ism.” She continues to appeal for reinstatement and persists in litigation.
The case study in academic freedom is ongoing.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is Secretary of, and Chair of the Media Committee for, The New Enlightenment Project. He is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash