Economist and law professor Neil H. Buchanan, in Toronto on Oct. 9, 2023. Buchanan, a prominent economist and tax law scholar, left his tenured job at the University of Florida.CHLOE ELLINGSON/The New York Times News Service
In January, Neil Buchanan will begin teaching at two of Canada’s most prestigious law schools. It’s an unexpected career turn for the American legal scholar, who is giving up a tenured position at the University of Florida – one of several academics to flee the state for political reasons.
Prof. Buchanan, a 64-year-old economist and tax professor, ties his departure to a series of policy decisions that, from his perspective, hammer academic freedom in the state.
Florida is a hotbed of the U.S. culture wars and Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has focused his efforts on reshaping the education sector – including what can be taught in the classroom.
In recent years, Florida has passed laws that prohibit teaching about systemic reasons for inequality, ban public colleges and universities from spending on diversity initiatives and allow students to film their classes – in part, for the purpose of filing complaints about teachers. A new review process for tenured faculty sparked concerns that professors could face retribution for their political beliefs or teaching material.
Eventually, Prof. Buchanan had seen enough. Officially, he is on sabbatical from the Levin College of Law and will retire from his position in June, 2024. But he moved last summer to Toronto because he had taken roles as a visiting professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
It’s “not a healthy atmosphere” in Florida, Prof. Buchanan said in an interview. When he considered a new academic home, “Toronto was really where I wanted to be.”
Prof. Buchanan will teach a course on U.S. tax law for Canadian lawyers at U of T, while at Osgoode, he’ll teach a class that challenges economic orthodoxy from a left-leaning perspective. (In 2013, he published a book – The Debt Ceiling Disasters: How the Republicans Created an Unnecessary Constitutional Crisis and How the Democrats Can Fight Back – that speaks to his politics.)
“For some reason, lawyers are skeptical of everything – except what economists tell them,” said Prof. Buchanan, who received a PhD in economics from Harvard University, before pivoting to law. Lawyers should be “even more skeptical of what economists tell them.”
Prof. Buchanan is one of many departures from the University of Florida’s law school. In the 2023 fiscal year, the faculty turnover rate at the College of Law was 31 per cent, compared with the previous five-year average of 8.4 per cent, according to numbers provided by the university.
Over all, the University of Florida (UF) – which has an enrolment of more than 60,000 students – had a faculty turnover rate of 9.3 per cent in 2023. The university said this is lower than the national average and that hires exceed departures. However, turnover has picked up from 7 per cent in 2021.
Danaya Wright, chair of the faculty senate, and herself a professor at the College of Law, said there are myriad reasons for why people are leaving their positions: retirements, other job offers, family reasons, and so on.
But in some cases, politics are a decisive factor. UF’s College of the Arts “struggles to hire or retain good faculty and graduate students in the current political climate,” read a faculty senate report that was published in June.
“I believe there is a brain drain of those academics who teach in fields where they feel particularly threatened,” Prof. Wright said, pointing to those who teach theories of race and gender that are contentious in right-wing circles.
In 2022, Florida passed legislation that prohibits the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to children from prekindergarten to Grade 3 – what critics refer to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which was later expanded to students through Grade 12, with exceptions. The state also banned transgender people from using public washrooms that align with their gender identities, among other laws deemed homophobic by LGBTQ advocates.
In November, a U.S. district judge issued a temporary injunction against parts of what is known as the Stop WOKE Act, thus allowing professors to teach theories of racial injustice that Governor DeSantis is trying to outlaw.
Prof. Buchanan said the politicization of higher education is going to make it difficult for the state’s colleges and universities to hire the best candidates – or draw interest from the best students.
“Florida’s gonna have a hard time keeping those kids at home,” he said of prospective in-state students. “They’re gonna look at it and say, ‘The wheels are falling off the bus.’ ”
Prof. Wright said there are notable upsides to the University of Florida – among them, high levels of funding from the state. (She also said the new review process for tenured faculty will focus on their “assigned duties” and not be wielded for political purposes, based on new regulations.)
However, “there are going to be certain areas where students are not going to get the education they want,” she said. “We’ve highly politicized certain areas of education.”
So far, Prof. Buchanan is enjoying his time in Toronto. He explored different parts of the city, such as the Danforth, in the warmer months, and he’d like to stay beyond the current academic year.
“I’m hardly the first person to have said that Toronto’s like New York, but cleaner and nicer,” he said. “But from my
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
