Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada R3T 5V5
Telephone (204) 474-9207
Fax (204) 474 - 7681
[email protected]
Department of Economics
March 31, 2015
David Robinson
Executive Director
Canadian University of University Teachers
2705 Queensview Drive.
Ottawa, Ontario, K2B 8K2
Dear Mr. Robinson:
Recent media representations, largely due to a seriously biased report prepared by the Canadian
Association University of Teachers (CAUT), cast the Department of Economics at the University of
Manitoba in a poor light. It essentially suggests that a majority of faculty members in the Department
have acted to limit the academic freedom of a small group of “heterodox” faculty and graduate students.
We deplore the misrepresentations of the Department that have occurred.
The CAUT report attacks the recent curriculum improvements in the Economics Department without any
basis. Changes to the curriculum at the graduate and undergraduate level have been made to ensure our
department provides students with the education and training in economics that will assure and enhance
their success in professional and academic careers. These changes reflect recommendations of two
external reviews of our program as mandated by university policies. Further, these changes have emerged
from lengthy reviews through committee procedures that again reflect university approved processes. The
Department council reviewed, debated, revised, and approved these changes, again in accordance with
university-approved procedures. Finally, all curricular changes were approved without dissenting vote by
the University Senate.
We reject the simplistic misrepresentation by CAUT on the debate in the Department as being between
the “heterodox” fighting against the hegemony of the “orthodox” majority. This perspective is wrong on
two counts. First, the classification of economics as having two camps is not sustained by any catalogue
of economics, classification of economics by the major journals, or the breadth and diversity of the
research and teaching within either the discipline or our department. Second, the Department of
Economics is introducing new courses and approaches designed to ensure students have access to the full
range of economics topics and approaches, including those taught by the colleagues who supported the
CAUT report, and not the particular view of any specific group in the department.
Many of us declined to be interviewed by representatives of CAUT who were preparing this report
because none of the departmental, faculty, or university mechanisms to address grievances had been
activated. Further, the facts do not support the alleged instances of infringements on academic freedom –
the University of Manitoba offers an extremely wide-ranging selection of courses including graduate and
undergraduate courses in economic history, history of economic thought, economics of gender,
sustainability, and other alternative approaches. Finally, the changes to the curriculum are not in any
sense an infringement of academic freedom, but an attempt to meet the rapidly growing enrolments of
students who wish suitable training to enter professional and academic careers. As professional teachers
in a public institution, we are keenly aware of our obligation to meet the educational needs of students
and all sectors of Manitoba society.
We call on CAUT to represent all members of our department, rescind this flawed report, and replace it
with an evidence-based understanding of the challenges facing economics training in Canada and
recognition that our goal remains the needs of our students.
Pinaki Bose
Professor of Economics
Laura Brown
Associate Professor
Janice Compton
Associate Professor
Ryan Compton
Associate Professor
James Dean
Professor of Economics
Ryan Godwin
Assistant Professor
Hikmet Gunay
Associate Professor
Derek Hum
Professor Emeritus
Richard Lobdell
Professor of Economics
Janelle Mann
Assistant Professor
Wayne Simpson
Professor of Economics
Greg Mason
Associate Professor
Elizabeth Troutt
Associate Professor
Ashantha Ranasinghe
Assistant Professor
Carlos Yepez
Assistant Professor