THIS SITE IS DEVOTED TO THE OTTAWA FREE SPEECH MOVEMENT

"Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move on. But the old orders should not be moved easily -- certainly not at the mere whim or behest of youth. There must be clash and if youth hasn't enough force or fervor to produce the clash the world grows stale and stagnant and sour in decay."

-William Allen White

THE NEWS FLOW

Oct. 20, 2009. Documents obtained by the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Email exchanges between President Allan Rock and publisher of the Ottawa Citizen Jim Orban reveal how the University of Ottawa controls the media.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

PRESS CONFERENCE, NOV 28 2008

PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY
14h30
in the foyer of
McDonald Hall


(footage taken on Nov 21 2008)

Dean Lalonde Locks-Down MCD 113, Allan Rock Plans to Permanently Shut-Down MCD 113, and the Department Chair Cancels the Council Meeting.

The High-Security Lock-Down of MCD 113.

On Friday Nov 21, the Dean of the Faculty of Science Dr. Andre Lalonde and the Department Chair Dr. Bela Joos infiltrated MCD 113 with several Protection Officers and a number of unidentified University employees. They ejected all the students, replaced the door lock with a high-security lock, and installed an alarm/surveillance system.

MCD 113 is the radiation lab run by Physics Prof Denis Rancourt, and is the work place/meeting area for his research students and employees.

The lock-down of MCD 113 is a direct security response to student Marc Kelly who was seen accessing the lab the day before. The Rock administration believes Marc Kelly to be a high-level security risk due to his political ideology.

The Ottawa Police were called on site when Prof Rancourt attempted to enter his lab. Prof Rancourt was not informed of the lock-down.

The new security protocol for accessing MCD 113 requires the total evacuation of all bystanders within a 25-meter radius of the lab entrance.

The Permanent Shut-Down of MCD 113.

President Allan Rock is attempting to permanently shut-down MCD 113 in order to rid the University of campus radicals. Allan Rock is framing Prof Rancourt claiming he "blocked entry and exit from the premises for several hours" and "a security officer was kept in the room and unable to exit". Video footage reveals this to be a fabricated lie.

The Canceling of the Council Meeting.

The Chair of the Department of Physics Dr Bela Joos canceled the Department Council Meeting, which was to be held today at 14h30. Dr Joos canceled the meeting last night at 21h23 "to avoid unnecessary confrontations". This is the second time in a row that Dr Joos unilaterally cancels the departmental governance meeting for politically motivated reasons. The canceling of the Department Council Meeting is an obstruction of democracy.

McDonald Hall Foyer
14h30



The Department Chair Dr Bela Joos is hijacking the Department of Physics. Dr Joos will be challenged at the press-conference to re-establish democracy.

"Every member of our institution will take part
in [its] educational mission." --Vision 2010


C O N T A C T S :

Brian Vissers, Manager of Technology and Security Systems Division
Email: brian.vissers@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5800 x6503

Luc Bilodeau, Patrol Officer
Email: luc.bilodeau@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5499




Bela Joos, Chair of the Department of Physics
Email: phychair@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5800 ext. 6755

Andre E. Lalonde, Dean of the Faculty of Science
Email: deansci@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 864-9845

Allan Rock, President of the University of Ottawa
Email: president@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5809

Denis G. Rancourt, Full Professor, MCD 113 Lab Supervisor
Email: dgr@uOttawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5800 ext. 6774



uofovoice.blogspot.com
voice.uottawa@gmail.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

about we have a democratic vote to kick you out of the department or to make you STFU and stop harassing us!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, your comment seems to have been cut off so it's a bit hard to understand.

Normally one cannot have a democratic vote to silence people's freedom of speech, so I expect that if you had a departmental meeting and wanted to have a vote like that other people at the meeting would not agree to hold a vote on that. If you feel harassed that's important to talk about of course. Remember that Denis has tenure though, and the point of tenure is to protect professors when they state their political opinions. I think the system is really proving its worth right now despite how the administration is not honoring the idea and trying to get around it.

James Douglas
That being said, I definitely think there should be a departmental meeting to talk about it. Really it is very disappointing that the departmental meetings keep being cancelled. I think it would be much better to get together and talk to work through the issues that are coming up.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous #1:
Why you didn't come yesterday for express your opinion, at the press conference?

Anonymous said...

I guessing the faculty wouldn't cancel meetings "to avoid unnecessary confrontations" if theyd could expect people to express themselves in a non-confrontational manner. This whole saga is ridiculous, it probably started over a failure of communication about expectations or policy and has escalated with each tit for tat attempt to assert their power between Mark Kelly and the administration. In the university community the administration wields the vast power of a bureaucracy that relies on standardized policies and to act counter to these protocols would undermine their own power and ability to function. Kelly on the other hand has little power as a single student, so he uses rhetoric and reality TV tactics to rally others to his cause to try to equal out the power balance. He frames himself as a martyr who is being harassed and "violently battered" by an totalitarian Orwellian institution for his "political ideology". Personally I don't think this situation will be resolved satisfactorily to both parties, one will win and the other will lose and the power games played by both sides will continue to escalate to the detriment of both sides. If things continue like they are Mr. Kelly will not be re-registered and he will continue to make the administration look stupid. The only thing that could remedy the situation would be a constructive dialogue to figure out an alternative situation, however due to how the administration has been framed by Mr. Kelly I doubt he'll find many friends on that side. There are definitely issues with the administration and the balance of power however I think this situation demonstrates that yelling and insulting the other side isn't a very effective way of resolving differences.