A resident physician at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of medicine who was suspended over pro-Palestinian social media posts says he’s been reinstated but has no plans to return to the institution.
Dr. Yipeng Ge, 29, was sanctioned by the university last November after it got several complaints about a series of pro-Palestinian posts he’d made, ones that included references to “apartheid” and “settler colonialism.”
At the time of his suspension, Ge had been a fourth-year public health and preventive medicine resident and was completing a residency at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
His research has focused on Indigenous health, anti-racism and decolonization.
“I feel incredibly harmed by this process, and I don’t know how to continue within this institution because of what’s happened,” Ge told CBC on Friday.
“I’ve given almost eight years of my life to this institution. And for them to do something like this without any kind of conversation beforehand, I find [it] just incredibly appalling and egregious.”
University spokesperson Jesse Robichaud told CBC Friday it would neither confirm Ge had been reinstated nor comment on the “confidential” deliberations by the faculty’s postgraduate professionalism subcommittee.
Four days earlier, the University of Ottawa’s school of epidemiology and public health posted a photo of Ge on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, with a message that the school was “thrilled to welcome back our outstanding learner and colleague.”
SEPH @ uOttawa is thrilled to welcome back our outstanding learner and colleague Dr. Yipeng Ge. / ÉÉSP @ uOttawa est ravi d’accueillir à nouveau notre collègue et apprenant exceptionnel, le Dr Yipeng Ge. <a href=”https://t.co/Lup6IPXwHJ”>pic.twitter.com/Lup6IPXwHJ</a>
In November, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, an associate professor of family medicine at the U of O, drew attention to a number of Ge’s posts on his own Substack page, calling them examples of “antisemitism.”
One such post included a photo of a handwritten message on an Ottawa telephone pole with several slogans, including the words “Zionism = Genocide of Palestinians.”
Dr. Yipeng Ge shared this image on social media last year. In a post on his Substack page, Ge’s colleague, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, called it an example of anti-semitism. (Substack)
Ge told CBC he never said those words himself, but just shared the photo of the poster, which he did not make.
“There’s this disproportionate discipline — and often heavy-handed discipline — for speech or commentary, often in the form of social media posts, with respect to calling for health and human rights for Palestine and Palestinians,” he said.
“The attacks are meant to discredit, call into question someone’s character and integrity, and really take them down as a professional, to isolate them and to silence them and to make them feel incredibly afraid and to make the broader community feel incredibly afraid to speak about Palestine whatsoever.”
According to a United Nations statement from November 2023, there’s been a “wave” of people worldwide — including journalists, academics, athletes and protesters — who’ve been censored, suspended, blacklisted or threatened with workplace consequences for showing solidarity with the victims of the war in Gaza.
Ge said he accompanied a group of graduate students to the West Bank last March while taking courses at Harvard University.
He said it was “incredibly eye-opening to be on the ground and to know of the conditions that people are living through —through a system of apartheid and different classes of citizenship.”
Ge said he’s now weighing his options for what to do next and is considering transferring to another university.
“With what I’ve experienced, I cannot continue within this institution,” said Ge. “The subsequent conversations that I’ve had with faculty leadership and their lack of insight, remorse … even after my reinstatement and everything, they don’t feel like they’ve made a mistake.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
