Category: Interviews

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Andrew Lawton Of True North Sells Out, Gives Softball Interview To Jason Kenney

On May 8, 2021, Andrew Lawton of True North did an interview with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. To put it mildly, this was a softball. Lawton went out of his way to avoid difficult questions, and help Kenney along. Rather than holding the Premier to account, Lawton acted as a form of controlled opposition. Commenters on Twitter were quite angry. He gave more legitimacy to the tyrannical measures imposed in the Province.

True North got its “charity” status under very dubious terms. Rather than founding one (as Candice Malcolm leads people to believe), she took over an existing one. See the CRA or search corporations in Canada for more information. True North used to be called the Independent Immigration Aid Association, founded in 1994.

Prior to “founding” True North, Malcolm and her husband, Kasra Nejatian, were staffers for Jason Kenney. They worked in his office while he was Multiculturalism Minister in Stephen Harper’s Government. This detail is never disclosed publicly.

Kenney used to run the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, a Koch/Atlas think tank. Malcolm worked for them as well. Nejatian is still part of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, another Koch/Atlas group. He’s also a Director at True North, but not openly listed. None of this is disclosed either.

It’s beyond hypocritical for True North to rail against media outlets being bribed by Trudeau, while it gets tax breaks from pretending to be a charity. The most likely reason for taking over one, as opposed to starting one, is that there would be far less scrutiny.

Lawton himself was a 2018 candidate for the Ontario Provincial election for Doug Ford. To his credit, that is openly mentioned.

And “staffer” is the impression that interview gives off. Lawton tries his best to make Kenney look good, or at least better. What questions could have been asked?

  • Why do the goalposts keep shifting on these measures?
  • Has this virus eve been isolated? See Fluoride Free Peel.
  • Why at PCR tests used, when they can’t determine infection?
  • WHO defines Covid deaths as “clinically compatible illness in a probable or confirmed case”. How is this medically or scientifically based?
  • What agreements were made to simultaneously shut down economies?
  • What really happened March 2020 at World Economic Forum?
  • Why are daily press conference questions screened in advance?
  • Are these public gathering bans about safety, or just making it harder for opposition to gather and talk openly?
  • Why are churches closed, but mosques can remain open?
  • How can you justify jailing people for attending church?
  • What gives Kenney the right to indefinitely suspend basic rights?
  • Who runs Alberta? You or Deena Hinshaw and her people?
  • Why is computer modelling treated as if it were science?
  • What is the scientific basis for determining “non-essential businesses”?
  • How are you “pro-business” if you keep shutting them down?
  • What is the actual science behind banning indoor gatherings?
  • What is the actual science behind social distancing?
  • What research was done into looking at potential harms from masks?
  • At what rates are people being harmed from “vaccines”?
  • Is the lack of testing on pregnant women/nursing mothers a concern?
  • Is the lack of testing on pregnant children a concern?
  • If these are safe, why are manufacturers indemnified?
  • Are these “vaccines” approved, or given interim authorization?
  • Why ignore the fact that testing continues for years to come?
  • What recourse will people have if harmed by “vaccines”?
  • Why is Deena Hinshaw, an unelected bureaucrat, running the Province?
  • Why is AHS, an autonomous corporation, allowed to dictate freedoms?
  • Why is the Alberta Public Health Act based on the 2005 Quarantine Act?
  • Why was the Quarantine Act passed to accommodate the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations? WHO-IHR?
  • Do these public health orders override AB Bill of Rights?
  • Doesn’t it do an end run around due process to deny Provincial services to people with unpaid tickets, even if they intend to oppose them in Court?
  • What really happened when you attended Bilderberg?
  • Finally: Who the hell do you think you are?

There are more of course, but this just a sample of some of the hard questions Andrew Lawton could have asked. Instead, he allows Kenney to spread his nonsense unchallanged.

It is possible that Lawton his oblivious to all of the above, and did no research at all. However, a more likely explanation is that agreeing to softball questions was a condition of the interview. While having access to politicians is quite understandable, this does the public a huge disservice.

Last November, Jason Kenney did an interview with Danielle Smith, former head of the Alberta Wildrose Party. Kenney admitted doing reading that indicated 90% of positives could be in error, and he shrugged it off.

Both Deena Hinshaw (Alberta), and Bonnie Henry (British Columbia), has introduced the standard of “assuming” that positive test results are variants. This has no scientific basis at all.

It’s difficult to see who the audience was here. Many of the commenters in the video call out Lawton for his softball approach. No new information was learned, as Jason Kenney just repeated his same lines as before. Although Lawton (may) not have wanted this, Kenney’s handlers certainly would have advised him on which topics are off limits. Overall, it was very disappointing.

Never again should Lawton criticize the CBC for giving Trudeau a pass. He did exactly the same thing here to Kenney.

https://archive.is/19n6U
https://archive.is/mpab4

If you want some real research, check out this HEALTH series, or this COVID series. This is the kind of information that should be shared openly, but isn’t.

Jason Kenney is a fake conservative.
Andrew Lawton is a fake journalist.
True North is a fake charity.

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Getting Started With Your Own Research, Investigative Journalism

Ever wonder how it is certain exposes come to creation? Are you longing to create something that dives beyond the surface? Well, for Canadians, this list is a place to start. These are some of the main places that this website uses to generate its articles.

For an interesting guide from a decade ago, check this out:
https://bookleteer.com/book.html?id=930&#page/2/mode/1up

1. Previous Solutions Offered

A response that frequently comes up is for people to ask what to do about it. Instead of just constantly pointing out what is wrong, some constructive suggestions should be offered. This section contains a list of proposals that, if implemented, would benefit society. While the details may be difficult to implement, at least they are a starting point.

2. Media Bias, Lies, Omissions And Corruption

Truth is essential in society, but the situation in Canada is worse than people imagine. In Canada (and elsewhere), the mainstream media, periodicals, and fact-checkers are subsidized, though they deny it. Post Media controls most outlets in Canada, and many “independents” have ties to Koch/Atlas. Real investigative journalism is needed, and some pointers are provided.

3. Why People Should Care About This

To anyone looking to get into citizen journalism, or otherwise expose the truth about our world, here are some basic tips on how to do so. This is a how-to article on those potential online sleuths.

Topics such as: the true scale of immigration into Canada; demographic replacement; loss of Christian roots; the loss of culture and heritage in favour of “multiculturalism”; the costs of globalized trade; globohomo; Islam; the people spreading Islam; the international banking cartel (BIS); the scale of debts; pension ponzi schemes; border security; forced multiculturalism; corruption in politics; internationalism; widespread human right abuses; trafficking; and a host of other issues are swept away. They are given little to no attention.

The goals of MSM, generally are:

  • (a) To only tell part of the story
  • (b) To divert your attention from another story
  • (c) Both (a) and (b)

Unfortunately, our media is full of grifters and shills with an agenda. Almost the entire mainstream media is controlled by one outlet: Post Media. Even the so-called “alternative media” can’t be relied on to be truthful. The Post Millennial, True North Canada, Spencer Fernando, and Rebel Media are among the “independents” with an agenda. What Canada needs, (and the world at large) needs, is people willing to take the plunge and research for themselves.

While commentators — online pundits — are a dime a dozen, true researchers are rare. Any Tom, Dick or Harry can give their opinion on someone else’s work. The real challenge is creating the original work. Right, no bias here.

Yes, some of the techniques will seem painfully obvious, but are worth going through. Note: there are no shortcuts in this line of work. It’s just patience, perseverance, and luck. Red pill yourself, and share your findings with the world.

If even one reader of the article decides to pursue this path, then it is all worthwhile.

4. Tip: Save & Archive Evidence

Taking screenshots of the proof you have is always a great idea. As a picture, it speaks for itself, and demonstrates what you want to show. Also, it doubles as a powerful form of evidence, should you ever get challenged on your work.

A secondary option is to archive the entire webpage you are quoting from. One such option is http://archive.is, which is shown above. There are a few reasons. First, you may get questioned about the authenticity of your work, even the screenshots. But as a practical matter, a few years later, the website may not exist, or the URL may have changed. Best to keep a backup handy. Admittedly this can be tedious, but beats having your sources disappear.

Another common archiving site is the Waybackmachine, which can be found at http://web.archive.org/. Either will do the job.

Now, let’s get into some actual techniques.

5. Look Using Simple Search Engines

This is a no-brainer to many. See what others have published on the subject. It may save you from having to reinvent a thousand wheels if you come across an article. Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, etc… will all suffice. If nothing else, it will be a good place to start, and you may hit gold. Make sure to check the links and references put in whatever you find. (Please give the original author credit for their work).

The other techniques are not universally applicable, but use them according to the particular circumstances of your research. Here they are, in no particular order.

6. Look Up Directors, Executives

Yes, you can look up information on a particular company. There are various ways to do that. A simpler approach may be just to see who RUNS the company, and if they have any interesting connections. In this case, we see that Pierre Beaudoin, the Chairman of Bombardier is also a Director at Power Corporation, owned by the Desmarais Family. One might wonder if this is the reason (or a reason), that we keep using taxpayer money to bail out Bombardier.

7. Look Up Data From Website

Items such as annual financial statements, people joining the company, or major announcements may be posted on the organization website. And this does not only apply to corporations.

For example, McGill University announced a $200M gift from John McCall MacBain. He is a Trudeau Lobbyist, a member of the Trudeau Foundation, and head of the McCall MacBain Foundation.

The McGill website also shows that the Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti, is a member of the Faculty of Law, currently on leave. All of this information was provided by McGill.

One would have to wonder if that $200M donation is the reason Lametti ensured that SNC Lavalin got its deferred prosecution agreement.

8. Corporations Canada Website

If you want to know more about a business or non-profit, Corporations Canada can help with that. You can obtain information on the Directors, by-laws, registered office, or confirm that returns have been filed. Several years worth of data is available for free. You make the application, and within minutes, are emailed a series of attachments to download.

Some information can be obtained for free. Other data will involve paying fees. The choice is up to you.

Note: Obviously this applies to companies registered in Canada. The United States, and many other nations have similar options.

9. Charities And Other Donees

If you are looking into a charity, or a group that falls into some other categories, the Canada Revenue Agency may be of use. Basic information can be obtained, including the Directors, the use of the charity, the revenue, and recent changes. It was a help finding out where True North Center actually originated from.

10. LinkedIn, Other Social Media

Yes, people put stupid stuff online. It doesn’t have to be smoking pot, or topless photos in order to be helpful. For example, should you want to look into someone such as the CEO for an apparently independent media outlet, you can see what other organizations the person is connected to.

Furthermore, even if such accounts are altered or deleted, there is typically a copy or a partial copy somewhere. So don’t despair.

Now, to get into the more legal and/or political matters, the next few tricks will help immensely. While it is directed at Federal matters, the same principles apply Provincially and Municipally.

11. Check Campaign Contributions

While donating (within the limits) to political parties and politicians is allowed, it does create a nice paper trail. As such, you may be able to see who has donated to whom, how much, and how often. Of course, this doesn’t work when donations are given in cash under the table.

It should be pointed out, that some provinces (like Ontario) allow 3rd party donations. Essentially, that is an almost unlimited amount that is funnelled through an intermediary. Worth looking into. You want to know who the politician really serves.

Spoiler: it’s not you.

12. Check Lobbying Commissioner’s Office

Influence peddling can be a full time business for lobbyists. So, let’s see who they have been meeting with. One such case is SNC Lavalin lobbying pretty much everyone for its DPA over the last few years. It can be truly disgusting to see just how deep some of this goes. Naturally, why would companies spend all this money on lobbyists unless they got results?

Go through the site for a while. The amount of lobbying that goes on in government is absolutely sickening. Keeps lobbyists employed though.

(a) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/advSrch
(b) https://www.lobbyistsregistrar.bc.ca/app/secure/orl/lrs/do/guest
(c) https://www.albertalobbyistregistry.ca/
(d) https://www.sasklobbyistregistry.ca/
(e) http://www.lobbyistregistrar.mb.ca/i
(f) http://lobbyist.oico.on.ca/Pages/Public/PublicSearch/Default.aspx

13. Statistics Canada

They say there are lies, damn lies, and statistics. And that is certainly true, although StatsCan can at least give some official numbers for researchers to work with. It has the added benefit of being relatively free of government/political spin.

14. Open Data

Another government source for hard data focused, but still a good source of information. Keep in mind, it’s only as reliable as the people entering the information in.

(a) https://open.canada.ca/en/maps/open-data-canada
(b) https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/
(c) https://www.data.gov.bc.ca/

15. Library & Archives Canada

Although there are fees for many documents, the Library & Archives Canada section can provide things that aren’t available in your typical online search.

16. Check Out Old/New Legislation

Want to know what is actually written in a bill? Original filings, as well as amended bills are available to the public. For bills that are passed or defeated, the voting records of all Members of Parliament is recorded as well. To reiterate, though this piece focuses on Federal issues, the same applies Provincially.

Don’t trust the media’s interpretation of what a particular piece of legislation says. Go check it out for yourself. To quote Reagan: trust, but verify.

17. Other Parliamentary Studies/Reports

CLICK ON PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

It isn’t just the bills themselves that go on. The MPs study the issues when they aren’t busy grandstanding. As such, hearings take place, and witnesses are often called to testify. This concerns issues such as letting fake refugees into Canada, and Conservatives endorsing the UN Parliament. Indeed, a lot more detail can be found here than in the hearings and votes. Entire transcripts of hearings can be downloaded or copied.

Also, please be aware, that http://parl.canadiana.ca/ also has more archived documents can be found. More and more is being scanned electronically and posted for all to see.

18. United Nations Search Engine

Want to know what is going on with UN globalism? Just go on the UN website and search. Although it’s fairly easy to navigate, there is the search function is you can’t find something. For example, typing “Islamophobia” nets about 600 results. Although there is a private access for members, most of what you need is open to the public.

19. CanLII, Court Searches

The good news is that major cases are listed. These include the Supreme Court of Canada, and Provincial Appellate Courts. Trial rulings “may” be listed if there is something particularly interesting or helpful, or if they are high profile. It covers criminal, civil, family, human rights tribunals, Law Society rulings, law review articles, and often motions. If one wants to self-represent in court, information available can be useful.

Bad news, is that the amount of information can be overwhelming. So many cases, and so many similar terms means that imprecise searches flood the user with useless hits. Even with the lower rulings usually not posted, the amount of information is mind boggling.

If you actually are looking for a court case, it’s a good tool. Otherwise, it’s not helpful in background information. An alternative (if you know what case you are looking for) is to contact the court and ask for certain documents. Also, some places, like Ontario, allow for searches of the status of cases in progress. You can tell if documents (like a defense) were ever filed.

20. Libraries Or Other Archives

Don’t knock it. If you have a large or older library in your town, or can get to one, you might be surprised what you can dig up. Often, older information is available in printed form that has not yet been digitized. For example, a library in my hometown still has microfilm on census data going back to the 1800s. If only it was readable.

21. Access To Information Requests

In most areas of government bureaucracy, there exists the option to file a formal request for information on certain topics. And it can be done across many departments. What sorts of things can you request?

  • Documents posted, but not obviously found
  • Records in possession, or an admission none exist
  • Meetings, minutes
  • Reports issued
  • Amounts of money spent
  • Other parties consulted

While seemingly a quick and easy way to get answers, let’s mention a few disclaimers. First, the requests often take a long time, sometimes months to get back. Second, the government may withhold all or part claiming “public interest” or “confidentiality”. Third, there are often fees involved. Still, it can be an option to consider.

22. Interview The Subject

This is also known as “being a journalist”. You ask a person questions in the hopes of getting information. Not everyone will say yes, but if you never ask the answer will always be no.

Question: do you let the person know who you really are, and if you are recording? Ideally, you should, but it depends on the circumstances. Having done a few sneaky ones myself, it would be hypocritical to pass judgement.

One piece of advice: it may be better to talk to the person AFTER you have done other forms of searching. This is so that you are more fully aware of your facts prior to meeting.

23. Ancestry Sites

Want to find out who is related to who? Although these databases are far from complete, they can give a good idea about extended familial relations you may not otherwise have known about.

24. What Have I done?

The items listed above have been used as source material for Canuck Law articles. Which specific ones depend on the circumstances. All of these techniques are useful in conducting research for the writing. However, there is no one answer for everything.

25. What May Not Be Needed

Of course, this will depend on the people involved, and what information is being sought. Here are a few techniques I don’t engage in, but that others have.

  • Ambush journalism
  • Stalking, following subjects
  • Trying to get to family members
  • Dumpster diving
  • Trespassing, B&E

It is possible to get real results and real information without crossing ethical and legal lines. Suggestion: try not to cross lines where possible.

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Predatory Publications By Professor Pyne (Part 4: The Followup)

1. Important Links

CLICK HERE, for Part I, the paper and backstory.
CLICK HERE, for Part II, the Pyne interview.
CLICK HERE, for Part III, TRU responds in case.

CLICK HERE, for the Ad Hoc Investigatory Committee report.

2. Context Of Followup

In 2017, Professor Pyne released a research report on so-called “predatory publishing”. In it, he details how academics publish in journals that are not peer reviewed, and who make little if any effort to verify the findings.

Although the report did not drop specific names, it was not well received by Thompson Rivers University. In a sense this was understandable, as it is not a topic that most people wish to address. Professor Pyne claims that this led to the atmosphere at the school changing, and to his eventual suspension.

Regardless of how touchy the topic may be, this was the wrong way to handle it. Truth should never be censored just because it is inconvenient or embarrassing.

This topic was originally covered early this year. However, since then the Committee investigating the case has ruled that Professor Pyne’s rights were violated.

3. From Ad Hoc Investigative Comm Report

Our investigation has found the following:
1. Based on the evidence presented to the Committee, TRU appears to suffer a broad institutional weakness when it comes to understanding academic freedom beyond its narrow application to support faculty members’ freedom to pursue what they expect to be fruitful avenues of research and publish their results.

2. There were significant breaches of Dr. Pyne’s academic freedom with respect to the Administration’s responses to his intramural and extramural communications criticizing the School of Business and Economics, its programs, and its faculty. These breaches arose from the failure to properly consider Dr. Pyne’s academic freedom, which is encoded in the collective agreement governing his employment at TRU, in managing workplace complaints against Dr. Pyne.

3. The collective agreement between the University and its faculty association contains an article on academic freedom that creates a positive obligation on the parties to consider academic freedom in any case involving speech and other communications from faculty members. The failure to consider Dr. Pyne’s academic freedom in human resources processes has had the effect of denying Dr. Pyne access to procedural fairness, and hence the decision to suspend him was not made on a sound basis.

4. There is no evidence that any person at TRU attempted to interfere with Dr. Pyne as he carried out his study into publishing in predatory journals.

5. Dr. Pyne’s privacy was breached by both TRU and TRUFA on multiple occasions.

Point #3, the school was found to be lacking in having a strong understanding of its academic freedom obligations.

About point #4, that is true, though it doesn’t appear that the school knew what was happening as the research was being done. As no live subjects were used, no ethics approval was needed.

Point #5 concerned leaking of personal information which Professor Pyne believes was done deliberately.

There is a differentiation between open access publishing and so-called predatory publishing that is often over-looked. Open access publishing relies on the same processes as traditional publishing, including rigorous peer review, whereas predatory publishing does not and attempts to co-opt the open access model for financial gain. In an increasingly complex arena for publishing research, universities and academics grapple with assessing faculty members’ published research for tenure and promotion, and for various institutional benefits, including salary increases and research awards. Academic librarians have long provided their expertise in identifying scholarly resources and are now assisting researchers in identifying which constitute legitimate open access publishing and which do not. There is a clear need for universities to ensure the integrity of their academic decisions for tenure and promotion, in particular, by having policies that differentiate between legitimate and predatory publishing.

Dr. Pyne’s research on the rewards of publishing in predatory journals has raised questions about the way his own colleagues and institution are managing the complexity of publishing research at a time when there is a growing number of journals with questionable peer review practices. These questions go to the heart of the credibility of TRU, and one would expect them to be taken seriously by the university’s senior administration. Even if one wishes to critique Dr. Pyne’s published results – as would be expected as part of a robust scholarly discourse – it seems irresponsible for the Administration to ignore the issues his work raises for TRU, which include whether the fundamental academic judgments involved in tenure and promotion decisions are being made on a sound basis.

The only evidence the Committee has seen of any discussion of the issue of predatory journals is related to the TRU Senate discussion of a motion put forward by a faculty senator in April 2017 to refer the matter to the Senate Tenure and Promotion Committee, which is chaired by the Provost. The matter seems to be still with this Committee, which appears not to have made any reports to Senate since then.

It is the Committee’s opinion that the apparent failure of TRU’s Administration to consider seriously the issue of publishing in predatory journals and its potential impacts on TRU’s core academic decisions represents a profound failure of academic governance at the university

Again, read the whole report for a more thorough reply.

An interesting point is raised: even if one has issues with the topic being raised, the way it was handled was completely wrong.

Beyond that, the report on predatory publishing raises very valid concerns. Academics should be concerned about the quality of the screening that is done of their research. Predatory publishes may reward professors with money or more status for work that by all rights should have been rejected. Academia can be a vicious place. In fact, shedding light on this could be viewed as investigative journalism.

Finally, retaliation (no matter how subtle) creates a chilling effect for everyone. What topics are now off limits? Who will be next? Is this really where we want to go with free speech?

4. Comments From Professor Pyne

1/ What exactly did the ruling say?
-TRU and TRUFA violated academic freedom
-Committee tries not to attribute motives to people
-TRU lacks strong policies in academic freedom
-TRU violated privacy laws by leaking confidential information
-TRU should pay wages lost during suspension

2/ Can or will TRU appeal?
-TRU refused to participate in the process, so not likely
-There have been claims of defamation, even though people were not named in the paper

3/ What has changed since this case happened?
-I’ve had my office transferred elsewhere
-People were unhappy with some Facebook postings I made
-The issue still isn’t sitting well with people

4/ Do you think it will make a difference at TRU?
-No, it doesn’t seem to have
Committee has been hand picked by the President
-They say that they have not been provided with all the information, but won’t say what they don’t have

5/ What would you say to people concerned about academic freedom?
-It’s an important cause
-There are a lot of hoops to jump through
-Check out the Society for Academic Freedom

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Predatory Publications by TRU Professor Pyne (Part 3: TRU Responds)


(Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC)

CLICK HERE, for Part I, the paper and backstory.
CLICK HERE, for Part II, the Pyne interview

This is Part III of a story involving economics Professor, Derek Pyne. Pyne published a paper studying the economic impacts of “predatory publishing” in academic journals. This led to international attention.

Predatory Journals In Essence
-Mailbox addresses (suites) given in address
-Journal no one has heard of before
-Very quick turnaround times
-Questionable, if any, peer review
-Questionable “Impact Factors Analysis”
-Real journal will provide abstract, fake will make you buy entire article, paywall

Pyne had been suspended in the fall of 2018. He cited several reasons, including this publication. In the interest of fairness, Thompson Rivers University was contacted for their side of the story.

While Professor Pyne agreed to an in person meeting, TRU answered questions by email. Due to privacy and legal concerns the answers were much more restricted than what Prof Pyne had disclosed. Here is that exchange.

1/ Professor Pyne’s paper on “Predatory Journals” must have been unexpected. What is TRU’s response to it?

It is important to understand that research is an independent activity undertaken by faculty and the university is not in the practice of monitoring the publishing activity of its faculty. Professor Pyne has the freedom to publish his research and talk about his research publicly.

2/ Does TRU believe the paper to be factually accurate, or a distortion of academic publishing?

TRU does not take a position on Professor Pyne’s research other than that it supports individual faculty member’s right to research and publish their research, and for this research to be openly debated among the academic community.

3/ Was his suspension in 2018 related to the paper he produced?

The action taken against Professor Pyne was not related to his specific research, the dissemination of his research, or the exercising of his right to academic freedom. The action was related to matters that TRU is unable to comment on due to both employment and privacy law.

4/ Have there been any changes to academic publishing as a result of this release? Reviews on how grants/tenure are awarded?

As previously indicated, research is an independent activity and subject to academic discourse. On the matter of tenure and promotion, any faculty member hired or promoted at TRU goes through a robust process, which involves a review of research activity and publishing credentials. This is a process led by peers, hence, any faculty member at TRU moving through the promotion and tenure process is doing so with the endorsement of their faculty colleagues provincially, nationally, and internationally. Additional information on promotion and tenure can be found on TRU’s website.

https://www.tru.ca/__shared/assets/Principles_and_Essential_Features_of_Standards_Documents23557.pdf

5/ Has any faculty research been given a “second look” as a result of the paper?

As indicated, TRU does not monitor the independent publishing activity of its faculty. However, there are processes built within the university system where such activity is reviewed. For example, at TRU, divisional peer review committees and a university committee of Senate review publishing credentials during the tenure and promotion process of faculty. In addition, each individual faculty council and department, with input from the university’s Senate, determine the criteria for tenure and promotion, which includes close scrutiny of publications. Faculty, chairs and deans are also involved in the hiring of any new faculty, and a review of publishing credentials would be part of that process.

6/ Professor Pyne told me he doesn’t believe the academic union is acting properly in the matter, and it has since gone to Labour Relations. Any comment on that?

TRU cannot speak on behalf of the union.

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Predatory Publications by TRU Professor Pyne (Part 2: Meeting The Man)

(Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC)

See the previous article on the infamous paper by Thompson Rivers University Economic Professor, Derek Pyne.

For a simplified version of the story, Professor Pyne published a paper in April 2017 titled “Predatory publications”. It was a look into the academic publishing, and how fake journals were popping up. Given university professors’ duty to “publish or perish”, these seemed to be a way out.

This is a topic that has been reluctantly addressed by universities before. However, this paper took more of an economic view of the subject — rewards and benefits from publishing in such journals.

The paper has not been well received by Thompson Rivers University, especially since it seemed to implicate members of the faculty. Relations between Professor Pyne and the school have gone downhill.

In September 2018, almost a year and a half later, Professor Pyne was suspended from TRU. He is now back at work. He claims that the paper was one reason, but not the only, for the suspension.

Currently, a complaint has been filed under Section 13 of the Labour Relations Code, claiming the Union violated Section 12. Here is the actual text from the Labour Relations Code (of BC)

Duty of fair representation
12 (1)
A trade union or council of trade unions must not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith
(a) in representing any of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit, or
(b) in the referral of persons to employment whether or not the employees or persons are members of the trade union or a constituent union of the council of trade unions.
.
(2) It is not a violation of subsection (1) for a trade union to enter into an agreement under which
(a) an employer is permitted to hire by name certain trade union members,
(b) a hiring preference is provided to trade union members resident in a particular geographic area, or
(c) an employer is permitted to hire by name persons to be engaged to perform supervisory duties.
.
(3) An employers’ organization must not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith in representing any of the employers in the group appropriate for collective bargaining.
.
Procedure for fair representation complaint
13 (1) If a written complaint is made to the board that a trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization has contravened section 12, the following procedure must be followed:
(a) a panel of the board must determine whether or not it considers that the complaint discloses a case that the contravention has apparently occurred;
(b) if the panel considers that the complaint discloses sufficient evidence that the contravention has apparently occurred, it must
(i) serve a notice of the complaint on the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization against which the complaint is made and invite a reply to the complaint from the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization, and
(ii) dismiss the complaint or refer it to the board for a hearing.
(2) If the board is satisfied that the trade union, council of trade unions or employers’ organization contravened section 12, the board may make an order or direction referred to in section 14 (4) (a), (b) or (d).

Canuck Law meeting Professor Pyne

The actual interview occurred on Thursday, January 24 at the University in Kamloops, BC. Note: Questions were prepared, but the replies shown are summaries of what was said.

1/ What did you think would happen publishing this?
-It was a new angle on the publishing industry
-This hadn’t been done before
-Expected a higher amount of support for academic freedom and inquiry

2/ Any support from colleagues?
-Some privately do offer support
-No one wants to be public about it
-This is considered an attack on academic freedom

3/ What actually triggered the suspension?
-Collective agreement allows for feedback for candidates
-I exercised that right. University called it defamatory and accusatory

4/ Why the 16 month delay in the suspension? (April 2017-Sept 2018)
-It took time for the backlash to happen
-Reporting by the New York Times really hurt
-American media interviews were given
-Comments made in online forums
-Research comments

5/ Why isn’t the TRU faculty union helping?
-164 page complaint was filed
-Academic unions don’t work the same way private sector unions do
-Lack of understanding by the union in matters like this

6/ What do you see Labour Relations doing?
-Little. They have a very low success rate
-Since 2016 (records shown), 0 or 1 cases successful each year
-Most “successes” come from informal negotiation between parties

7/ What would you like Labour Relations to do?
-Order the union to file a grievance

8/ How can universities screen for “predatory journals”? What are the warning signs?
-Mailbox addresses (suites) given in address
-Journal no one has heard of before
-Very quick turnaround times
-Questionable, if any, peer review
-Questionable “Impact Factors Analysis”
-Real journal will provide abstract, fake will make you buy entire article, paywall
-There are 10,800 right now identified, another 955 suspected (all fields)

9/ Has this led to policy changes at TRU?
-Might have tipped people off as to what is happening?

10/ Was it difficult to get data for research?
-Time consuming
-Manually searching profiles
-Research Ethics not needed (since no face-to-face interviews)
-Google Scholar quick source (academic publications)
-Checking academic profiles also an option

11/ Does this hurt academia?
-It can lower the trust people have in experts and authority figures

12/ Broadly speaking, how does peer review work?
-You need an idea of which journals to submit to
-You submit your research
-You may have to redo large sections of your paper
-Editor of publication often orders revise & resubmit
-Editor will find referees with similar publications to review yours
-Referees are usually volunteers, it’s more of an honour
-It can easily take a year or two to get published

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Duke Pesta & Common Core Education

(Duke Pesta in his critique of “Common Core” Education in America)

Not much I can add to this, but Heartland Institution was contacted for information. This is a fascinating, yet morbid review of the new Federal standards of education.

Amendment 10
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– Undelegated Powers Kept by the States and the People
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The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

From Lennie Jarrett of Heartland Institute

I answered each question below it. Let me know if you need anything else.

This was in regards to some of the videos I had seen of Duke Pesta addressing education in the US. It was fascinating to watch in a morbid way.

1/ Regarding the introduction of Common Core and uniform standards across the states: do you view it as well intended/well meaning, or some malevolent purpose?

I view it as both. Many people had really good intentions but were very naïve in how Common Core (CCSS) would be implemented and managed by a self-serving bureaucracy. I know others wanted national standards so they could control education easily from a centralized bureaucracy. CCSS gave them the closest thing possible to that.

2/ This may be outside your scope, but if the public has never been consulted in any meaningful way, would there be any grounds to invalidate CC requirements?

Unfortunately, no, they could not be invalidated. This is a lesson for many parents, that there is no true local control of education. It’s been controlled by the states and federal interventions for decades.

3/ Could you explain the rationale for making mathematics more complex than needed? (Arithmetic shouldn’t look like introduction algebra)

The rationale is some believe they are making it easier by trying to teach different methods while claiming it is a higher method of learning. As a student of mathematics myself, the methods they are teaching are absurd. Math must be taught systematically starting at its foundation. Without a foundation, the higher learning becomes difficult at best leaving many students unprepared for future careers in the STEM fields.

4/ Why are people with no teaching experience being allowed to write CC or other cirriculum?

Much of the curriculum is created by those wanting to make money off their products. They use CCSS as a tool to try and build their market share regardless of the product’s effectiveness at teaching.

Secondly, there are examples of curriculum written by non-teachers that are excellent. It’s really a matter of subject matter mastery, not necessarily a matter of teaching experience.

5/ Could you offer any solutions to getting children out of this nonsense?

Universal education choice is the only solution. Parents must be fully enabled to find the education that best fits the needs of their child. The selection of schools by parents will drive the curriculum to be the best for the student instead of the bureaucracy driving the curriculum to what is best for them.

6/ Why would people like Bill Gates be supporting this? It seems designed to collapse a nation.

Gates needs STEM ready employees. He was not getting that from the public schools. He thought he could fix the system. He was wrong. He claims to learn from his mistakes, and while he does make changes into his direction, he has yet to realize it’s the system itself that is preventing any significant reform and success.

7/ Anything else you think concerned parents should know?

Stop thinking your school is great, while everyone else’s school is bad. The entire system is the problem. CCSS is just the latest fad with more coming each time one fails. Demand your right to have the money designated for your child to follow your child to the education opportunity of your choice. Simply put, fund children, not bureaucracy.