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If it wasn’t totally clear how this would end — Wong’s career never recovered from the humiliation ritual; Patriquin and Maclean’s were vindicated by events, though you’d never think so reading Le Journal this week — it was at least all going to script. But then something special happened, something no one seems to have called for publicly: Potter offered what sounded like a very involuntary “resignation,” and McGill accepted it.

“In light of the ongoing negative reaction within the university community and the broader public to my column published in the March 20 online edition of Maclean’s, I have submitted my resignation as Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, effective immediately,” Potter wrote in a statement published on Facebook Thursday morning. “I deeply regret many aspects of the column – its sloppy use of anecdotes, its tone, and the way it comes across as deeply critical of the entire province. That wasn’t my intention, it doesn’t reflect my views of Quebec, and I am heartbroken that the situation has evolved the way it has. This has been the dream job of a lifetime, but I have come to the conclusion that the credibility of the Institute will be best served by my resignation. I intend to continue with my current academic position at McGill, and I hope to serve the school in any place I might be effective. ”

Ha, ha, no. This most certainly will not best serve the credibility of the Institute, or that of McGill, which can go ahead and take me off its alumni mailing lists. It is mortifying for both. Potter will retain his professorship in the Faculty of Arts, as opposed to his administrative role at MISC, and if the McGill administration wanted to compound its disgrace it could attempt to cast that as a defence of academic freedom. It would be better off hiding under the bed. And outraged Quebecers would do well to take a look in the mirror.