The Canadian Press (February 26, 2018) explains: “Acadia University has launched a formal investigation into complaints against a professor over controversial comments he made on social media and in the classroom. Heather Hemming, vice-president academic at the Wolfville, N.S., school, said in a letter to professor Rick Mehta that the university has received complaints from students, faculty and others with concerns about his views.’These concerns relate to the manner in which you are expressing views that you are alleged to be advancing or supporting and, in some instances, time that you are spending on these issues in the classroom,’ she said in a letter on Feb. 13. ‘The university has a legal responsibility to provide an environment free from discrimination, sexual harassment and personal harassment’” Since when did expression of opinions become ” discrimination, sexual harassment and personal harassment’?

Well, what are those views that have Cultural Marxist snowflakes melting? ” Mehta has been outspoken both on campus and on social media about a range of contentious issues including decolonization, immigration, and gender politics, garnering both supporters and opposition. He has come under fire for saying multiculturalism is a scam, there’s no wage gap between men and women, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has created a victim narrative to prompt ‘endless apologies and compensation.’ Mehta bills himself as a free-speech advocate trying to build bridges across political divides.” In other words, Prof. Mehta holds views that many people would see as just plain common sense.

Already a sneaky bureaucratic form of retribution has been used to punish the freethinking prof. “Meanwhile, Mehta said he is worried the investigation into his commentary may not lead to a fair outcome given the university has already taken steps to reduce his course load. After several years of teaching the large sections of the required introductory psychology courses, he said Acadia has changed his teaching allocation so that he’s teaching smaller courses.”

The controversy has sparked a furious debate.

The Canadian Press (March 4, 2018) explained: “A group of Canadian professors dedicated to the defence of academic freedom have condemned the Acadia probe, while Mehta’s designated department head says some students at the Wolfville school say they have stopped attending his class because of his comments. … Mark Mercer, president of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship, said in a letter Friday that Mehta’s views may be unpopular but they do not constitute an attack on anyone.

“Mercer, professor and chair of the philosophy department at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, added in an email that the investigation is a ‘frontal assault on academic freedom’ and warned that investigating a professor for the content of his opinions would cast a chill over campus debates.

Other professors have also spoken out against the investigation, as well as changes to Mehta’s teaching allocation assigning him smaller courses. …

In a Feb. 26 letter, Mehta’s designated department head, Rob Raeside, detailed some of the complaints against him, indicating that the level of anxiety in the class is high and some students have stopped attending.’The students have not expressed in writing the precise details of the racist and transphobic comments, but it is clear from their interactions with me that they are extremely disturbed by your comments, some to the point of not going to class,’ said Raeside, an Earth and environmental science professor. Mehta shared the letter on social media.” So, a few student snowflakes are so inarticulate that they can’t even explain their concerns coherently or specifically!

“When asked whether he made racist or transphobic remarks, Mehta said ‘perception is very subjective.’ ‘I take those issues very seriously, given my own background as first generation Canadian and having grown up with racism, I’m not going to do that in the classroom,’ he said.  ..,. Yet Mehta has ignited outrage for saying multiculturalism is a scam and the decolonization movement aims to create a victim narrative, spur endless apologies and bolster compensation to Indigenous Peoples.

On Twitter, he has retweeted a post that said it is ‘statistically impossible for all Native children to have had a negative experience with residential schools.’

‘or those of you following my story, let me be clear: I loathe both racism and violence in all its forms. What I DO stand with is the right of ANYONE to free speech, regardless of how reprehensible I may find it,” he tweeted.

Mehta, whose faculty web page notes that he’s recently become interested in studying the lack of viewpoint diversity within universities, said the reason he strays from the textbook is because he doesn’t want to “present information that I know and believe to be biased.’

“Many professors and students … seek to limit criticism against certain minority groups by conflating hate speech with any speech that offends the sensibilities of those minority groups,” he said in an email. ‘Rather than engage in debate, they are able to simply shut down opponents with a cry of ‘That’s hate speech.” …

Yet Concordia University professor Gad Saad said nothing should be considered off-limits in the pursuit of truth.

“The idea that hurt feelings should in any way constitute a relevant concern is utter nonsense,” Saad, research chair in Evolutionary Behavioural Sciences and Darwinian Consumption, said in an interview from Montreal. “You don’t have the flexibility to insult people when you’re a professor. You should be respectful, you should be polite. But hurt feelings don’t supersede the honest pursuit of truth.”

University of Saskatchewan professor Ken Coates said post-secondary campuses should be places of rigorous debate.’ I hope that any student that goes to any university is made to feel uncomfortable many times. Universities are not places to go to be comfortable,’ said Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation. ‘They’re places to go to be uncomfortable, to have your views challenged.’”