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Denis Rancourt

Denis Rancourt is a former professor of physics at the University of Ottawa. Rancourt is widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his grade inflation and "academic squatting", the act of arbitrarily changing the topic of a course without departmental permission.[1][2]

Denis Rancourt
Rancourt in his office at the University of Ottawa in 2004
Born (1957-03-23) March 23, 1957 (age 67)
North Bay, Ontario
EducationBachelor's Degree from University of Ottawa (1980), Master's Degree from University of Toronto (1981), Ph.D from University of Toronto (1984)

Early career

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Rancourt obtained his bachelors degree in 1980 and subsequently his masters degree in 1981 in physics from the University of Toronto. He later obtained a PhD from the University of Toronto also in physics in 1984. He subsequently held several postdoctoral positions before obtaining a permanent position at the University of Ottawa which he held for over 20 years, where he eventually obtained the rank of full professor.[3]

University conflict

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His conflicts with the university started in 2005 when, in what was termed "academic squatting", he changed a course to focus "not just [on] how science impacts everyday life, but how it relates to greater power structures".[4][5][6] In June 2008 a labour law arbitrator sided with Rancourt and ruled that "teaching science through social activism is protected by academic freedom".[6] Rancourt was removed from all teaching duties in the fall of 2008 because the dean of the faculty of science did not agree with his granting A+ grades to 23 students in one course of the winter 2008 semester.[1] In December, the Allan Rock administration of the University of Ottawa began dismissal proceedings against him and he was banned from campus. This generated a province-wide (Ontario) and national (Canada) public debate on grading in university courses.[1][7][8][9][10][11] The university's Executive Committee of the Board of Governors[12] voted unanimously to fire Rancourt on March 31, 2009.[13] Rancourt grieved the dismissal and the Canadian Association of University Teachers ran an Independent Committee of Inquiry into the matter.[14] The dismissal case went to binding arbitration where Rancourt's union took the position that the grading issue was a pretext to remove Rancourt and that the termination was done in bad faith.[15] Arbitrator Claude Foisy ruled in a decision dated January 27, 2014,[16] to uphold the university's dismissal of Rancourt.[17] On March 10, 2014, Rancourt's union announced that it would appeal the Arbitrator's award.[18][19] As a result, an independent inquiry was held, which, in December 2017, ruled that the termination was justified.[20]

Independent Committee of Inquiry

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In November 2008, the Canadian Association of University Teachers announced that it would establish an Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICOI) with terms of reference to: 1) "examine the series of ongoing disputes between Rancourt and the University of Ottawa"; 2) "to determine whether there were breaches or threats to academic freedom and other faculty rights"; and 3) "to make any appropriate recommendations". The Committee consists of three professors from York University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Rider University.[14] The report was released in 2017 and concluded that "the University of Ottawa was justified in terminating Dr. Rancourt for insubordination".[21]

Defamation case

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While at Ottawa Rancourt started a blog, U of O Watch, to report various alleged malfeasance of administrators and of his colleagues. The University used "copyright infringement" against the blog for using University web site images and disciplined Rancourt with a suspension that was grieved by Rancourt.[22]

In June 2011 University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis sued Rancourt for $1 million over two U of O Watch blog posts about her, including one which called her a "house negro".[23][24][25][26] The Law Times (Canada) did a feature about the case on August 29, 2011.[27]

The action went to trial in May 2014, but Rancourt walked out of the trial in the first week citing "reasonable apprehension of bias" and a "kangaroo court", because the judge had struck out one of his defenses during his opening statement to the jury.[28] In June 2014, the court found Rancourt had libeled St. Lewis, and awarded $350,000 in damages, plus court costs.[29][30] Rancourt appealed the decision, but his appeal was denied and he was ordered to pay St. Lewis $30,000 in costs for the appeal.[31][32]

Other views

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In February, 2007, Rancourt published an essay disputing the scientific consensus on climate change on his blog, which was applauded by climate change skeptics Alexander Cockburn and politician James Inhofe.[33][34][35] In 2024, Rancourt made statements expressing support for various fringe views regarding COVID-19, including suggesting that the virus did not exist and that the symptoms were due to "psychological stress".[36]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Anderssen, Erin (2009-02-06). "Professor makes his mark, but it costs him his job". Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2009-04-22. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  2. ^ Fish, Stanley (2009-02-08). "The Two Languages of Academic Freedom". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  3. ^ "CV - Denis Rancourt". denisrancourt.ca. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  4. ^ Trew, Stuart, Understanding power Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, Ottawa Xpress, January 5, 2006.
  5. ^ Tam, Pauline, Students rally around controversial professor Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, The Ottawa Citizen, February 15, 2006.
  6. ^ a b Teaching Science Through Social Activism is Protected by Academic Freedom, Arbitrator Rules Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine. College and University Employment Law E-Bulletin, Issue No.23. February 17, 2009.
  7. ^ TV-Ontario, The Agenda, with Steve Paikin, April 10, 2009
  8. ^ Anderssen, Erin, The Provocative Professor, Globe and Mail, February 11, 2009.
  9. ^ Pinchin, Karen, In this class, everyone gets A+, Maclean's Magazine, March 13, 2009.
  10. ^ CBC Radio (National) - The Current, March 18, 2009 (Part-3).
  11. ^ McKiernan, Michael, Flunking out over an A+, National Post, April 6, 2009.
  12. ^ "Executive Committee of the Board of Governors | Committee | Administration and Governance". Archived from the original on 2011-08-15. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
  13. ^ Ottawa Citizen. [1] Archived 2009-04-09 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed April 4, 2009
  14. ^ a b "CAUT Appoints Committee to Investigate Ottawa U Rancourt Case", CAUT Bulletin, January 2009 [2] Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Guly, Christopher (2011-12-02). "Suit with racial tones to mediation". The Lawyers Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2011-12-03. Alternative-links
  16. ^ In the Matter of an Arbitration, Foisy Arbitration Award, January 27, 2014, APUO web site.
  17. ^ Butler, Don, "Arbitrator upholds University of Ottawa's firing of tenured professor", Ottawa Citizen, January 28, 2014.
  18. ^ Denis Rancourt arbitration, APUO announcement, March 10, 2014, APUO web site.
  19. ^ Butler, Don, Decision on Denis Rancourt’s firing undermines academic freedom, professors say, Ottawa Citizen, March 14, 2014.
  20. ^ "Report released on termination of U of Ottawa professor | CAUT". www.caut.ca.
  21. ^ Report released on termination of U of Ottawa professor, Canadian Association of University Teachers, 2017, retrieved June 26, 2020
  22. ^ Jugé derrière des portes closes, La Rotonde, September 15, 2008.
  23. ^ Endorsement - Whether the words complained of in exhibits 3 and 4 are reasonably capable of defamatory meaning, Joanne St. Lewis v. Denis Rancourt, 2014 ONSC 3209 (CanLII), May 27, 2014
  24. ^ Former colleague sues fired U of O physics professor for libel[permanent dead link‍], Ottawa Citizen, June 24, 2011.
  25. ^ Former colleague sues fired Ottawa professor for libel, Vancouver Sun, June 24, 2011.
  26. ^ Calling black colleague ‘House Negro’ not racist: ex-professor, National Post, July 27, 2011.
  27. ^ U of O law prof suing colleague over ‘house negro’ remark - Racial reference in a blog post by Denis Rancourt at the centre of lawsuit Archived 2012-01-22 at the Wayback Machine, Law Times, August 29, 2011.
  28. ^ Butler, Don, Denis Rancourt boycotts his own trial for libel, citing 'kangaroo court', Ottawa Citizen, May 16, 2014.
  29. ^ Spears, Tony (June 6, 2014). "Malicious prof must remove libellous blog posts". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  30. ^ Cobb, Chris (June 5, 2014). "U of O prof wins libel case against Rancourt, awarded $350,000". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  31. ^ Appeal court upholds defamation finding in law prof case Archived 2015-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Legal Feeds, by Yamri Taddese, July 9, 2015.
  32. ^ Endorsement on Appeal, St. Lewis v. Rancourt, 2015 ONCA 513 (CanLII), July 8, 2015.
  33. ^ Rancourt, Denis (February 27, 2007). "Activist Teacher: Global Warming: Truth or Dare?".
  34. ^ Cockburn, A., "Dissidents Against Dogma" Archived 2015-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, The Nation, 25 June 2007.
  35. ^ "Inhofe Floor Speech on Global Warming: 2007 – Global Warming Alarmism Reaches a Tipping Point". U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  36. ^ "Denis Rancourt and "no virus": COVID-19 symptoms were due psychological stress from the pandemic response! | Science-Based Medicine". sciencebasedmedicine.org. 2024-03-18. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
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