Denis Rancourt
Encyclopedia
Denis Rancourt is a former professor
of physics
at the University of Ottawa
. Rancourt is a recognized scientist but is more widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his dissidence and his approach to pedagogy
. His conflicts with the university started in 2005 when, in what was termed "academic squatting," he changed a course to focus "not just [on] how science impacts everyday life, but how it relates to greater power structures". In June 2008 a labor law arbitrator sided with Rancourt and ruled that "teaching science through social activism is protected by academic freedom." Rancourt was removed from all teaching duties in the fall of 2008 because the dean of the faculty of science did not agree with his granting A+ grades to 23 students in one course of the winter 2008 semester. In December, the Allan Rock
administration of the University of Ottawa began dismissal proceedings against him and he was banned from campus. This generated a province-wide (Ontario
) and national (Canada
) public debate on grading in university courses. The university's Executive Committee of the Board of Governors voted unanimously to fire Rancourt on March 31, 2009. Rancourt has expressed the opinion that the grading issue was a pretext for his dismissal. National (Canada) media reports have echoed that Rancourt's dismissal was political. Rancourt has grieved the dismissal and the Canadian Association of University Teachers
is running an Independent Committee of Inquiry into the matter.
His laboratory has worked on the iron oxide hematite
and has been cited in recent works on the remote measurements of the soil mineralogy on Mars. He worked on the physics of Invar for twenty years and in his last papers on the subject he claims to have solved the 100-year-old Invar
problem of identifying the mechanistic origin of the alloy’s thermal expansion anomaly.
Rancourt first described the phenomenon of polarized superparamagnetic fluctuations which he named superferromagnetism. Scientific author Steen Morup introduced the same name for a similar phenomenon. His work on small magnetic particles was reviewed in the monograph series Reviews in Mineralogy
Starting in 2001, Rancourt led a research group in lake sediment early diagenesis
and co-authored works in biogeochemistry
about nutrient and metal cycling in aqueous envirnments. This allowed him to review cycling and recent historical changes in boreal forest lake sediments; which led him to write his essay about global warming and to post his views in public fora (see "Climate change essay" section).
In recent years, he has worked on reactive environmental Fe-oxyhydroxide nanoparticles and on iron cycling (see iron cycle
) in soils. In 2008, his laboratory found evidence that the structure of ferrihydrite, which was first published in Science
, is incorrect. In recent articles about soil formation, he helped explain how iron is fixed and mobilized.
and used this venue and other web sites to report various alleged malfeasance of administrators and of his colleagues. Many of the posts and web articles relate to incidents involving Rancourt that were reported in the media; such as a lawsuit in which students sued the University for not providing enough teacher assistants, a unilateral deregistration of two ten-year-old students (twins) from Rancourt’s SCI 1101 course that led to an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal lawsuit, a defamation lawsuit threat against Rancourt from Vice-President-Resources Victor Simon for posts on the U of O Watch blog, and an alleged University covert surveillance campaign (“UofOgate”) and cover up (see Covert surveillance section). The University used “copyright infringement” against the blog for using University web site images and disciplined Rancourt with a suspension that was grieved by Rancourt.
In June 2011 University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis sued Rancourt for $1 million over several U of O Watch blog posts about her. There was a racism allegation in the statement of claim related to use of the term "House Negro
". The developments of the case were reported on the U of O Watch blog and in the media. The Law Times (Canada) did a feature about the case on August 29, 2011. In October 2011 the University disclosed that it was funding the St. Lewis litigation against Rancourt, to which St. Lewis' lawyer Richard G. Dearden responded to the media "it is a personal libel action and has nothing to do with it being a SLAPP suit at all".
Following the conclusion of PHY 1703 at the end of 2005, Rancourt and student supporters campaigned to have the university approve a new Science faculty course that would be officially advertised as a pass/fail, student-directed course. The approval process – which spanned nine months and involved 16 committees - was significant both for its relative difficulty (i.e., length and number of committees involved) and the fact that it was heavily driven by undergraduate students. The course was officially approved in a special senate meeting in the summer of 2006 as SCI 1101, Science in Society. Although it would be offered by the Faculty of Science, courses with SCI prefixes do not count as science credits for students in that Faculty.
, an outspoken Afghan politician, then a member of her country’s Wolesi Jirga. In May 2007, Rancourt's course load for the fall of 2007 did not include SCI 1101. Rancourt responded on 18 May by filing a $10 million grievance against the university for not allowing him to teach the course, which he argued violated his academic freedom.
On November 23, 2006, five students in SCI 1101 sued the University of Ottawa in small claims court, alleging that the workshop-based class needed more than the two teaching assistants (TAs) that had been assigned to the course. Rancourt publicly supported the lawsuit, saying a TA was needed for each workgroup, of which there were more than two.
On December 10, 2008, Rancourt was provided with two letters by administration officials. The first letter indicated that he was under administrative suspension and banned from campus, while the second indicated that the Dean of the Faculty of Science had recommended to the Board of Governors that Rancourt be fired. The stated reason for the University of Ottawa's actions was Rancourt's assigning of A+ grades to all students in his fourth-year physics courses in the Winter 2008 term. These courses include Quantum Mechanics
(a required course) and Solid State Physics.
Rancourt states the administration's actions in general, and his dismissal in particular, are influenced in part by the Israel lobby and the military-industrial complex
. He has stated that his dismissal may be related to his political views, specifically his position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and wrote in his blog that university of Ottawa president (and former Minister of Justice) Allan Rock
appears to be "a point-man of the Israel lobby at the University of Ottawa."
In June 2009 all charges against Rancourt in relation to his January 2009 campus arrest for trespassing were dropped. In July 2009 Rancourt received Employment Insurance (EI) payments after EI found that the university's position that he was dismissed with cause (thereby barring benefit payments) could not be upheld.
In December 2008, Rancourt's research associate of over 12 years Dr. Mei-Zhen Dang was locked out of the laboratory and fired without notice, explanation or compensation. In February 2009 she sued the university and in August 2009 she won a settlement. Two graduate students of Rancourt were also claimants on the lawsuit and alleged that they had been punished for being in Rancourt's research group. The graduate students stated they were intimidated with threats to their scholarships into dropping the lawsuit and their lawyer stated that a salient feature of the case is that "it has a very political nature."
to intervene and suggested that the administration's silence amounted to a cover up
. Following a February 27, 2010, investigative report by Canadians for Accountability
, some further aspects of the covert surveillance campaign and its cover up were reported in the media on April 11, 2010, including the role of the student newspaper The Fulcrum. On January 27, 2010, the union representing student employees at the University of Ottawa, the Canadian Union of Public Employees
(CUPE, Local 2626), filed a labour law grievance against the university for surveillance against several of its members. In October 2010 the union reported to its members that it had settled with the university. The settlement ensured that information gathered on students would not be allowed in the student employee files. At least one original student griever was displeased and went to the media.
announced that it would establish an Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICOI) with terms of reference to: 1) “examine the series of ongoing disputes between Rancourt and the University of Ottawa”; 2) “to determine whether there were breaches or threats to academic freedom and other faculty rights”; and 3) “to make any appropriate recommendations.” The Committee consists of three professors from York University
, Wilfrid Laurier University
, and Rider University
. The Committee does not have a fixed time line to work with, but previous ICOI's have generally taken two years to complete their investigation and publish a final report.
. Rancourt was the videographer for ACTivist Magazine's No Code short film documenting the riotous opposition to the Code on campus.
Rancourt hosted a film series, Cinema Politica, since 2005 until the university stopped providing space for the event in 2008. In the previous year, a deaf student had filed a human rights
complaint against the University of Ottawa for refusing to pay the cost of sign language
interpretation during Cinema Politica events, although these events are not sponsored by the University or part of any curriculum. Rancourt has contested this position and appeared before the Ontario Human Rights Commission
in September 2008 to make his case that Cinema Politica should be recognized as part of his official workload. Rancourt continues to host the Cinema Politica event, renamed Cinema Academica, with the aid of another professor who books the room for him. While holding this event on January 23, 2009, Rancourt was arrested and issued a trespassing ticket for being on school grounds.
on his blog
. Alexander Cockburn
writing in The Nation
called it "one of the best essays on greenhouse myth-making from a left perspective". On 26 October 2007, American Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) referred to the blog by Rancourt during a floor speech aimed at disputing evidence advanced by climate scientists. He noted that "Rancourt – a committed left-wing activist and scientist – believes environmentalists have been duped into promoting global warming as a crisis," and quoted several points from the blog. In July 2010 the Spectator (UK) reported that the Climate Depot web site had released a video interview in which Rancourt stated that the "global warming movement is nothing more than a 'corrupt social phenomenon'".
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
. Rancourt is a recognized scientist but is more widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his dissidence and his approach to pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. His conflicts with the university started in 2005 when, in what was termed "academic squatting," he changed a course to focus "not just [on] how science impacts everyday life, but how it relates to greater power structures". In June 2008 a labor law arbitrator sided with Rancourt and ruled that "teaching science through social activism is protected by academic freedom." Rancourt was removed from all teaching duties in the fall of 2008 because the dean of the faculty of science did not agree with his granting A+ grades to 23 students in one course of the winter 2008 semester. In December, the Allan Rock
Allan Rock
Allan Michael Rock, PC is a lawyer, former Canadian politician, diplomat and now the President of University of Ottawa. He was Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and had previously served in the Cabinet of Jean Chrétien, most notably as Justice Minister and Health Minister .Rock was...
administration of the University of Ottawa began dismissal proceedings against him and he was banned from campus. This generated a province-wide (Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
) and national (Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) public debate on grading in university courses. The university's Executive Committee of the Board of Governors voted unanimously to fire Rancourt on March 31, 2009. Rancourt has expressed the opinion that the grading issue was a pretext for his dismissal. National (Canada) media reports have echoed that Rancourt's dismissal was political. Rancourt has grieved the dismissal and the Canadian Association of University Teachers
Canadian Association of University Teachers
The Canadian Association of University Teachers is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 65,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic professionals and general staff at 120 universities and colleges across Canada.-Principal Aims:The...
is running an Independent Committee of Inquiry into the matter.
Scientific research
Rancourt has published over 100 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals. As a professor of physics, he was a member of the Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Physics and member of the Ottawa-Carleton Geoscience Centre His most cited works are in the area of Mössbauer spectroscopy where he developed a spectral lineshape analysis algorithm. This formed a basis for a now commercial spectral analysis software developed in his laboratory.His laboratory has worked on the iron oxide hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
and has been cited in recent works on the remote measurements of the soil mineralogy on Mars. He worked on the physics of Invar for twenty years and in his last papers on the subject he claims to have solved the 100-year-old Invar
Invar
Invar, also known generically as FeNi36 , is a nickel steel alloy notable for its uniquely low coefficient of thermal expansion . The name, Invar, comes from the word invariable, referring to its lack of expansion or contraction with temperature changes.It was invented in 1896 by Swiss scientist...
problem of identifying the mechanistic origin of the alloy’s thermal expansion anomaly.
Rancourt first described the phenomenon of polarized superparamagnetic fluctuations which he named superferromagnetism. Scientific author Steen Morup introduced the same name for a similar phenomenon. His work on small magnetic particles was reviewed in the monograph series Reviews in Mineralogy
Starting in 2001, Rancourt led a research group in lake sediment early diagenesis
Diagenesis
In geology and oceanography, diagenesis is any chemical, physical, or biological change undergone by a sediment after its initial deposition and during and after its lithification, exclusive of surface alteration and metamorphism. These changes happen at relatively low temperatures and pressures...
and co-authored works in biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry
Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment...
about nutrient and metal cycling in aqueous envirnments. This allowed him to review cycling and recent historical changes in boreal forest lake sediments; which led him to write his essay about global warming and to post his views in public fora (see "Climate change essay" section).
In recent years, he has worked on reactive environmental Fe-oxyhydroxide nanoparticles and on iron cycling (see iron cycle
Iron cycle
In ecology or geoscience, the iron cycle is the biogeochemical cycle of iron through landforms, the atmosphere, and oceans. The iron cycle affects dust deposition and aerosol iron bioavailability..- References :...
) in soils. In 2008, his laboratory found evidence that the structure of ferrihydrite, which was first published in Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, is incorrect. In recent articles about soil formation, he helped explain how iron is fixed and mobilized.
Dissent – U of O Watch blog
Rancourt started an institutional watchdog blog entitled “U of O Watch” while he was a professor at the University of OttawaUniversity of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
and used this venue and other web sites to report various alleged malfeasance of administrators and of his colleagues. Many of the posts and web articles relate to incidents involving Rancourt that were reported in the media; such as a lawsuit in which students sued the University for not providing enough teacher assistants, a unilateral deregistration of two ten-year-old students (twins) from Rancourt’s SCI 1101 course that led to an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal lawsuit, a defamation lawsuit threat against Rancourt from Vice-President-Resources Victor Simon for posts on the U of O Watch blog, and an alleged University covert surveillance campaign (“UofOgate”) and cover up (see Covert surveillance section). The University used “copyright infringement” against the blog for using University web site images and disciplined Rancourt with a suspension that was grieved by Rancourt.
In June 2011 University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis sued Rancourt for $1 million over several U of O Watch blog posts about her. There was a racism allegation in the statement of claim related to use of the term "House Negro
House Negro
House Negro is a pejorative term for a black person, used to compare someone to a house slave of a slave owner from the historic period of legal slavery in the US...
". The developments of the case were reported on the U of O Watch blog and in the media. The Law Times (Canada) did a feature about the case on August 29, 2011. In October 2011 the University disclosed that it was funding the St. Lewis litigation against Rancourt, to which St. Lewis' lawyer Richard G. Dearden responded to the media "it is a personal libel action and has nothing to do with it being a SLAPP suit at all".
Teaching conflict with University
Rancourt is a self described anarchist and advocate of a pedagogical approach at odds with that of his former employer. Opinion editorials have emphasized this aspect of the conflict.Academic squatting of PHY 1703
Rancourt describes his approach of "academic squatting" in which he took an existing course and changed the curriculum, using student input, without the approval of the university. In the fall of 2005 Rancourt squatted a first year course entitled Physics and Environment (PHY 1703). During the second class of PHY 1703, the Dean of Science, Christian Detellier, announced that it had been shut down. A single student had complained the course's content did not match the official description. Thirty students in the class who supported Rancourt's actions complained to the administration. The Dean backed down and allowed the course to continue for the rest of the semester. Rancourt subsequently filed a successful grievance against the university, although the university's actions were defended by members of the Faculty of Science.Reprimand and arbitration
At the end of the term, on 19 December 2005, the university inserted a letter of reprimand in Rancourt’s file for having published information pertaining to PHY 1703 on his personal website that they wrote contained inaccuracies about the course’s language, level, format and content. Rancourt responded by filing a grievance through his union, the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa, and the matter went to arbitration in November 2007. On 25 June 2008, arbitrator Michel G. Picher released his ruling, upholding parts of the administration’s reprimand on the issues of language (agreeing that Rancourt should not have advertised the course as bilingual when it was only officially approved in French) and level (agreeing that Rancourt should not have characterized PHY 1703 as a graduate course), while directing parts to be removed. The university redrafted the letter of reprimand to reflect the arbitrator’s order removing all reference to course content, teaching method, and grading method. A published legal analysis of the ruling concluded that it protected teaching science through social activism under the purview of academic freedom.The "Activism Course"
SCI 1101
The first and only session of SCI 1101 was held during the fall term of 2006. The first three-hour long class generated media coverage because of its controversial history and a guest lecture by Malalai JoyaMalalai Joya
Malalai Joya is an activist, writer and a former politician from Afghanistan. She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of what she considered to be warlords and war criminals in...
, an outspoken Afghan politician, then a member of her country’s Wolesi Jirga. In May 2007, Rancourt's course load for the fall of 2007 did not include SCI 1101. Rancourt responded on 18 May by filing a $10 million grievance against the university for not allowing him to teach the course, which he argued violated his academic freedom.
Lawsuits
Two ten year old brothers were deregistered from SCI 1101 in January 2006. The University of Ottawa stated the students were deregistered because they did not meet the criteria for enrollment in the course, while the deregistered individuals' mother cited age discrimination. Rancourt publicly supported the mother's initiative to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, as minors must file a complaint to the tribunal through their parent or guardians.On November 23, 2006, five students in SCI 1101 sued the University of Ottawa in small claims court, alleging that the workshop-based class needed more than the two teaching assistants (TAs) that had been assigned to the course. Rancourt publicly supported the lawsuit, saying a TA was needed for each workgroup, of which there were more than two.
Suspension and dismissal
On November 22, 2008, Rancourt was blocked from entering his physics laboratory in the MacDonald Hall building. In the student newspaper The Fulcrum, the University's Director of Communications, Andrée Dumulon, stated that “[a]ccess was prohibited because we found that there were some unauthorized individuals in the lab.” Rancourt complained that the administration did not justify or explain the action. Rancourt was then banned from accessing the laboratory.On December 10, 2008, Rancourt was provided with two letters by administration officials. The first letter indicated that he was under administrative suspension and banned from campus, while the second indicated that the Dean of the Faculty of Science had recommended to the Board of Governors that Rancourt be fired. The stated reason for the University of Ottawa's actions was Rancourt's assigning of A+ grades to all students in his fourth-year physics courses in the Winter 2008 term. These courses include Quantum Mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
(a required course) and Solid State Physics.
Rancourt states the administration's actions in general, and his dismissal in particular, are influenced in part by the Israel lobby and the military-industrial complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
. He has stated that his dismissal may be related to his political views, specifically his position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and wrote in his blog that university of Ottawa president (and former Minister of Justice) Allan Rock
Allan Rock
Allan Michael Rock, PC is a lawyer, former Canadian politician, diplomat and now the President of University of Ottawa. He was Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and had previously served in the Cabinet of Jean Chrétien, most notably as Justice Minister and Health Minister .Rock was...
appears to be "a point-man of the Israel lobby at the University of Ottawa."
In June 2009 all charges against Rancourt in relation to his January 2009 campus arrest for trespassing were dropped. In July 2009 Rancourt received Employment Insurance (EI) payments after EI found that the university's position that he was dismissed with cause (thereby barring benefit payments) could not be upheld.
In December 2008, Rancourt's research associate of over 12 years Dr. Mei-Zhen Dang was locked out of the laboratory and fired without notice, explanation or compensation. In February 2009 she sued the university and in August 2009 she won a settlement. Two graduate students of Rancourt were also claimants on the lawsuit and alleged that they had been punished for being in Rancourt's research group. The graduate students stated they were intimidated with threats to their scholarships into dropping the lawsuit and their lawyer stated that a salient feature of the case is that "it has a very political nature."
Covert surveillance
In January 2010 Rancourt released a public report about the University of Ottawa having practiced extensive covert surveillance of him and of several students in the period 2006-2008, based on information obtained via an access to information law appeal. The use of covert surveillance appears to be in contrast to the University position that "all procedures required by the collective agreement with the Association des Professeurs de l'Université d'Ottawa (APUO) in this matter had been properly followed." On February 4, 2010, student Wayne Sawtell openly called on President Allan RockAllan Rock
Allan Michael Rock, PC is a lawyer, former Canadian politician, diplomat and now the President of University of Ottawa. He was Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and had previously served in the Cabinet of Jean Chrétien, most notably as Justice Minister and Health Minister .Rock was...
to intervene and suggested that the administration's silence amounted to a cover up
Cover Up
Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984 to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson....
. Following a February 27, 2010, investigative report by Canadians for Accountability
Canadians for Accountability
Canadians for Accountability is a non-profit organization established in 2008 to advocate on whistleblowing issues in Canada and provide support to both public sector and private sector whistleblowers. Canadians for Accountability is Canada's only national whistleblower protection organization...
, some further aspects of the covert surveillance campaign and its cover up were reported in the media on April 11, 2010, including the role of the student newspaper The Fulcrum. On January 27, 2010, the union representing student employees at the University of Ottawa, the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
(CUPE, Local 2626), filed a labour law grievance against the university for surveillance against several of its members. In October 2010 the union reported to its members that it had settled with the university. The settlement ensured that information gathered on students would not be allowed in the student employee files. At least one original student griever was displeased and went to the media.
CAUT review
In November 2008, the Canadian Association of University TeachersCanadian Association of University Teachers
The Canadian Association of University Teachers is a federation of independent associations and trade unions representing approximately 65,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic professionals and general staff at 120 universities and colleges across Canada.-Principal Aims:The...
announced that it would establish an Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICOI) with terms of reference to: 1) “examine the series of ongoing disputes between Rancourt and the University of Ottawa”; 2) “to determine whether there were breaches or threats to academic freedom and other faculty rights”; and 3) “to make any appropriate recommendations.” The Committee consists of three professors from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
, Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University is a university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It also has campuses in Brantford, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario and Toronto, Ontario and a future proposed campus in Milton, Ontario. It is named in honour of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada....
, and Rider University
Rider University
Rider University is a private, coeducational and nonsectarian university located chiefly in Lawrenceville, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States...
. The Committee does not have a fixed time line to work with, but previous ICOI's have generally taken two years to complete their investigation and publish a final report.
Access to Information
On September 29, 2010, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (Ontario) released ruling PO-2915 in an access to information (ATI) case involving Rancourt and the University of Ottawa. It was shown that a letter dated September 6, 2007, sent to Rancourt by Rancourt's dean questioning Rancourt's "physical and mental well-being" was based entirely on emails exchanged with university high officials and the university Legal Counsel; suggesting "a broad plan to fire" Rancourt, as widely reported in the media.Other campus activities
Rancourt has pursued other activities on campus, including a film series and the Five O'Clock Train radio program on CHUO-FMCHUO-FM
CHUO-FM is a Canadian community-based campus radio radio station, broadcasting at 89.1 FM in Ottawa, on Rogers digital cable on channel 943, via Real Audio stream and in MP3...
. Rancourt was the videographer for ACTivist Magazine's No Code short film documenting the riotous opposition to the Code on campus.
Rancourt hosted a film series, Cinema Politica, since 2005 until the university stopped providing space for the event in 2008. In the previous year, a deaf student had filed a human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
complaint against the University of Ottawa for refusing to pay the cost of sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
interpretation during Cinema Politica events, although these events are not sponsored by the University or part of any curriculum. Rancourt has contested this position and appeared before the Ontario Human Rights Commission
Ontario Human Rights Commission
The Ontario Human Rights Commission was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961 to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code...
in September 2008 to make his case that Cinema Politica should be recognized as part of his official workload. Rancourt continues to host the Cinema Politica event, renamed Cinema Academica, with the aid of another professor who books the room for him. While holding this event on January 23, 2009, Rancourt was arrested and issued a trespassing ticket for being on school grounds.
Climate change essay
In February, 2007, Rancourt published a controversial essay disputing prevailing theories of climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
on his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
. Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Claud Cockburn is an American political journalist. Cockburn was brought up in Ireland but has lived and worked in the United States since 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edits the political newsletter CounterPunch...
writing in The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
called it "one of the best essays on greenhouse myth-making from a left perspective". On 26 October 2007, American Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) referred to the blog by Rancourt during a floor speech aimed at disputing evidence advanced by climate scientists. He noted that "Rancourt – a committed left-wing activist and scientist – believes environmentalists have been duped into promoting global warming as a crisis," and quoted several points from the blog. In July 2010 the Spectator (UK) reported that the Climate Depot web site had released a video interview in which Rancourt stated that the "global warming movement is nothing more than a 'corrupt social phenomenon'".