Note - Nov. 27, 2019: This story has been edited from a previous version to include comment from the University of Calgary.

CALGARY—After a University of Calgary professor’s credibility was questioned by the premier Monday on the floor of the Alberta legislature, some reacted with worry about the effect it could have on academic freedom.

During a Monday afternoon session of the legislature, Premier Jason Kenney dismissed criticism of his government made by University of Calgary political scientist Melanee Thomas on the dismissal of Alberta’s Election Commissioner Lorne Gibson, who was actively investigating members of the United Conservative Party.

NDP Opposition leader Rachel Notley had quoted Thomas saying that Kenney is “using the power of the state to silence an independent body and this is corrupt.” Kenney’s response was to question whether Thomas should be considered an objective source since she ran as an NDP candidate in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.

“It is so sad over there that they’re now resorting to quoting NDP candidates like Ms. Thomas as objective sources,” Kenney said.

For Thomas, this kind of criticism is not new. She said her work has been questioned before because of her former political affiliations. But what’s significant this time, she said, is that the criticism is being elevated to a threat to academic freedom by virtue of the fact that it was discussed on the floor of the legislature.

On Monday, she tweeted a thread reacting to Kenney’s comments in the legislature. “I have to be honest: to be directly targeted by a head of government is chilling. It is more so when that person is responsible for your institution’s funding and has just gutted its budget for the current fiscal year,” Thomas wrote.

Kenney’s remarks could make researchers think twice about publicly speaking to their own work, Thomas said. She added that in the end, the biggest loser will be the public if experts feel discouraged from speaking out.

“Scholars who need to be talking to the public are going to be reluctant because they’re going to be worried about what’s going to happen if they happen to touch a political nerve,” she said.

Kenney doubled-down on his criticism of Thomas when asked about it on Tuesday. His spokesperson, Christine Myatt, said in an email that “Thomas’ running twice for public office for the NDP is a matter of public record and speaks for itself.”

Thomas said she ran for the Federal NDP in Lethbridge when she was 23, after being approached by the party. She said she did it partly because, as a political science academic, she was curious about what it was like to run for a political party. Thomas added that at the time, she was working a job she didn’t enjoy, and saw political candidacy as a way out and an opportunity to try something new. She was nominated as a candidate for the second time in 2006.

“The NDP wasn’t as politicized in Alberta at that time,” Thomas added of her short time in politics.

What makes this issue even more problematic for Thomas is that the criticism came directly from the premier, who has influence over how much funding her employer, the University of Calgary, receives.

“I think it’s designed to discredit empirical, verified, peer-reviewed work that some partisans don’t like, because it has carried implications for them that challenges some ideological premises,” Thomas said.

On Wednesday, the University of Calgary released a statement supporting Thomas’ right to academic freedom and her right to free expression.

“Academic freedom is a cornerstone of all great universities. Academic staff have the right to examine, question, teach, learn, investigate, speculate, comment, criticize, write, publish and the like freely, without pressure, direct or indirect, to conform to or defer to prescribed doctrines,” the University of Calgary’s emailed statement said.

James Turk, the Director of the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, defended Thomas, and said an academic’s political past is irrelevant to their expertise and research, as their work is held to consistent professional standards regardless of any affiliation or personal belief they may have.

He said several high profile politicians, including former Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA Ted Morton and former federal Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion, were also academics. Morton taught at the University of Calgary, and Dion was a professor of political science in Montreal. Their work, Turk said, was held to professional standards and was not hindered by their political affiliations.

Turk added Kenney’s response to Thomas’ political analysis is a way for the premier to avoid valid criticisms of his government’s dismissal of Gibson. Other political scientists in the province have also called Gibson’s dismissal a potential abuse of power.

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“Rather than responding to the issue, he attacks someone because of who they are or what they did in the past,” Turk said. “It’s a way of avoiding the real issue.”

Kenney’s comments on Monday were deemed a “cheap shot” by David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Academic work should be judged based on the quality of the work itself, he said.

Robinson’s organization is a national voice for university professors across the country. He said his group is concerned about what Kenney’s comments could mean for other university professors in Alberta, adding that he believes universities have an obligation to defend the academic freedom of their professors.

“Academics serve the public good by speaking freely, pursuing research wherever it might take them and not having to be beholden to any public interest, whether it’s government or anybody else,” Robinson said. “In this particular case, the premier has clearly overstepped.”

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