About our campaign:
We are a group of students and members of the broader
Montreal community who have been connected together by a legal motion
filed last year by the McGill administration. This motion asks the
Quebec Access to Information Commission to disregard our requests for
information on various topics, including military and extractive
resources research and funding on campus, as well as for the right to
disregard any future requests made by anyone named in the motion. It
also seeks to disregard requests made by anyone who could be reasonably
connected to any of us, and requests for information on a wide range of
related topics.
Here is a link to the motion that was filed last year:
http://blogs.canoe.ca/davidakin/journalism/mcgill-university-seeks-to-ban-its-own-student-journos-from-filing-ati-requests-on-it/
McGill's legal motion to be granted permission to pre-emptively deny future access to information requests was rejected outright by the Quebec Access to Information Commission, however, McGill has now filed an appeal of this decision with the Court of Quebec. Here is an article that explains the current situation:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/McGill+appeals+ruling+that+prevents+from+stopping/9068235/story.html
As students and community members, we are a diverse group, some of us never having met prior to this legal action. Our requests were submitted out of genuine concern over the ethics of certain aspects of the University. We find the lengths taken by McGill to avoid disclosure of this information to be extremely worrying, and that is why we are trying to resist the granting of this motion in court. However, as students we do not have the financial capacity to fund our legal defense. The preliminary hearings of the past months have been funded by donations from other campus groups but that money has run out.
The effects of a successful appeal could result in the inability to request any other information in the future by any students named in the motion, as well as anyone who can be reasonably connected to them. This new power would restrict not only students, but also any interested citizen, from requesting access to documents held by the University.
As well, the precedent that would be set by this case were McGill to win is important to note. Not only would this inhibit transparency on the part of the University, but since this decision would set a new precedent in Quebec law, it would have a devastating impact on the transparency and accountability of governments and publicly-funded institutions across the province.
What we need:
- Given McGill's decision to further lengthen the legal process through an appeal, we are in need of legal funding, in order to fight for access to information and transparency about unethical research on campus. To adequately prepare our appeal, we need upwards of $10,000. These funds will go directly towards paying our lawyer, Sibel Ataogul of Melançon, Marceau, Grenier & Sciortino, one of the leading labour and public-interest legal firms in Quebec.
- Whether or not you are able to contribute to this campaign yourself, we encourage you to tell any potentially interested individuals or organisations you may know about it.