Faculty, alumni and students are calling on the University of Northern B.C. to reverse its decision to make retired Conservative MP James Moore its next chancellor in May.
Catherine Nolin, geography chair and associate professor, was one of almost 900 to sign the petition by Monday evening, launched last week after Moore's appointment was announced.
The move was a surprise to Nolin and struck a chord with the community, she said.
"People want to protect what we've built here: equity excellence, support of diversity," said Nolin, who has been vocal online about her disappointment with the university's sixth chancellor choice, alongside open letters from alumni and students echoing those objections.
Both Nolin and the petition point to the university's description for the role of chancellor as one who "exemplifies and symbolizes the university by (his) conduct and the standards (he) sets."
"In this appointment I see someone who can actually harm the reputation of our university and the long term welfare of the university," said Nolin.
"He embodies the opposite the values and beliefs that are at the core of our university in terms of academic freedom, the pursuit of knowledge, through science the undermining of federal scientists...some of the poor relations with aboriginal communities in Canada and discounting the need for federal inquiry around missing and murdered women."
The UNBC Faculty Association also sent an email to its members in support of the petition, saying Moore is "closely associated with many anti-progressive policies that negatively impact the operations of Canadian universities."
The letter, signed by association president Stephen Rader and vice-president Matt Reid, said the appointment was especially disturbing "as it comes at a time of tense labour relations and negotiations, an important arbitration leading to a first collective agreement, and a strategic academic planning initiative."
Ryan Matheson - chair of the Board of Governors which appointed Moore - said he respects the open discussion and dialogue around the appointment but was firm in his opinion that Moore would benefit the university.
"I think that people are engaged in the process and care about UNBC is great for the process," he said, which included a year-long selection process, an open call for nominations, and in-camera discussions at the senate and board level, both of which include faculty and student representatives.
"As much as there are people on the dissenting side, there are notes and messages that are coming through from people on positive side," said Matheson, which includes individual notes from faculty members too.
"As an alumni of the institution, (Moore) has an incredible story," said Matheson, also an alumni. "He came to northern B.C., got his education at UNBC, had an incredible 15 years worth of knowledge in experience that is not only within British Columbia, but nationally and globally and he wants to bring that back in order to further UNBC."
UNBC President Daniel Weeks declined to comment on Moore's appointment or the opposition, saying it was a matter for Matheson as board chair. Moore did not respond to request for comment, but a spokeswoman at Dentons, where Moore works as a senior business advisor, said Matheson "is the spokesperson on this issue."
Rob Budde, an English professor who spoke to CBC last week of his objections, said Moore called him Monday to address those concerns.
The gesture improved Budde's opinion of the former federal cabinet minister, but it didn't change his impression of the appointment.
"It's hard. It's not a personal attack... It's more the baggage he carries with him, guilt by association as part of that government," Budde said. "He was wanting to assure me he was moving forward in a non-political way and wanted to help UNBC. That was his former life and this is his present life, which I understand."
But Budde can't get past Moore's record, especially for his time he served as heritage minister, which Budde said negatively impacted the work he does with arts and cultural groups.
"Over the long hall the Conservative government was not good for arts. Unfortunately that association is there," he said. "But more importantly my work with First Nations groups.
"Those relationships are threatened with the potential reading of his appointment as symbolic in terms of a shift in priorities."
"One can't underscore the importance of the figurehead because the person is supposed to uphold the values of the institution and so that is crucial," said Paul Siakaluk, an associate professor in psychology.
"The fact that he was the member of the government as a cabinet minister that was involved in suppression of free speech, muzzling of scientists for me alone precludes him from taking on this position," Siakaluk said. "That is diametrically opposed to what we do at the university."
As a climate change scientist, Stephen Dery said Moore's appointment "sends the wrong message.
"We are a research-intensive university promoting a diverse student body and faculty and again it just doesn't sit well with our goals and mandates," said the environmental science professor.
Nolin doesn't see the action by faculty as a political one, but said it's hard to separate Moore from his work as a cabinet minister.
"It's not about partisanship, I don't think, on anyone's part. It's really about the values that he held while in those positions," she said.
In an interview Thursday after his appointment, Moore stressed that his new position was a non-partisan one, but Nolin said that's not so easy to forget.
"That's why he's been appointed is his role as cabinet minister and MP: there's no other record that he's been hired upon. And so when we have a record that actually works against universities and academic freedom, and inquiry, scientific exploration and so on, I think it's very hard to separate the two."
Matheson said in the end Moore's record should speak for itself. UNBC is not the first to get pushback for appointments of retired politicians, he said, pointing to Simon Fraser University's choice of Carole Taylor, a former provincial finance minister B.C. Liberal Party, as chancellor in 2010.
Matheson wasn't clear on whether the appointment could be reversed, but said the decision has been made.
"We move forward by continuing to have the discussion, by having open dialogue about this and understanding the concerns from the faculty and from the staff and from the alumni," he said. "James is open to having the conversations with people. We are open to making sure those conversations are understood and heard. It's not about keeping anything quiet."
