U of C student 'embarrassed' by Enbridge controversy asks for president's resignation

Professors and students are demanding answers from the University of Calgary about the post-secondary institution's relationship with the pipeline company Enbridge.

The U of C held a public town hall Wednesday afternoon to discuss the institution's finances and upcoming budget. Students raised several concerns, including theEnbridgecontroversy.

One student called on Cannon to resign after saying her actions, including her involvement withEnbridge, have "embarrassed" him as a student.

• CBC INVESTIGATES |U of C staff suspected Michigan partnership was forEnbridgePR
• How the University of Calgary'sEnbridgerelationship became controversial

"As a student, Ibelieve that your actions have hurt the standing of thisinstitution," said first-year student FrankFinley.

Cannon responded by sayingshe will not resign.

"The answer is no," she told the gathered crowd, adding she has confidence in the university'sindependent review into the U of C's relationship with Enbridge.

Emailsobtainedfrom a freedom of information request suggest there wascorporate influenceduring anattempt to establish a new research centre atHaskayneSchool of Business.

Enbridgepledged $2.25 million over 10years to establish theEnbridgeCentre for Corporate Sustainability. As U of C officials worked to create the centre,documents obtained by the CBC reveal the university accommodated the apparent public relations ambitions of thecorporate patron.

Along the way, concerns about academic independence, the role of university research and the credibility of the researchers were dismissed.

Reviewlaunched

The university is bringing inCalgary lawyer and mediator Terrence McMahon to conduct areview. The investigation will specifically look atthe creation and operation of the U of C'sEnbridgeCentre and determine whether there was any breach of university policies or procedures then in place. McMahon's report is expected to be completed by Dec.14. The board of governors will review it and then release it to the public.

"What we've allowed Justice McMahon to do is be able to deal with anything that he finds necessary as part of his process," said Mark Starratt, a member of the university's board. "So once he has had the opportunity to review the documents that have been presented to him, he can choose what questions to ask and who he wants to ask those questions of."

• Read emails involving Elizabeth Cannon and the Enbridge Centrehere
• University of Calgary, Enbridge deny interfering with academic freedom

Students and professorswant a broad investigation that examines conflict of interest allegations against university presidentElizabeth Cannon and board oversight of corporate gifts. They also want any findings from the investigation to be sentto the Office of the Ethics Commissioner for further review.

Following the CBC investigation, Cannon resigned as an independent director of the Enbridge Income Fund. The university president's compensation for that board position amounted to $130,500 in 2014. While Cannon faced criticism for having a potential conflict of interest, she had publicly disclosed the position and said she always speaks as a university president.

BonnieDuPont, who was a member of thecentre's board andcurrently chairs the U of C's board of governors, isa formerEnbridgevice president.

CAUT investigation

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is launching its own investigation to examine alleged violations of academicfreedom and conflict of interest at the university.CAUTdecided to conduct its own examination in response to theCBC investigation into the relationshipbetween the U of C andEnbridge.

"This case brings together a number of things. One is the allegation that the donor, in this caseEnbridge, had inappropriate or undue influence over the centre," said David Robinson,CAUT'sexecutive director, in an interview.

"Another issue is the potential conflict of interest when you have the university president and chair of the board that have financial ties to the donor, and then there is the allegations that faculty complaints about the direction of the centre and concerns about academic freedom were never followed up."

CAUT said it has received complaints from other professors at the U of C about academic freedom. CAUT said it will investigate to see if there is substance to those allegations.

Enbridge saidit values academic independence and didn't attempt to influence the centre's operations or staffing choices.

According to the U of C, no academics ever made formal complaints about their academic freedom being infringed upon. The university's president saidtheinstitution's credibility and reputation are not at risk.

Last fall, Enbridge's name was taken off the centre. It is now just the Centre for Corporate Sustainability. The company dropped its funding to the school by $1millionand moved the money to a different university department.

Read the CAUT's letter to Elizabeth Cannon here