Alberta post-secondary community calls to address violence after Waterloo campus attack

Post-secondary staff and students across Alberta are calling on institutions to implement tangible changes to prevent attacks on vulnerable communities after a stabbing at a university in Waterloo, Ont.

A 24-year-old former student was charged after a professor and two students were stabbed Wednesday during a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo. 

The Waterloo Regional Police Service is investigating the matter as a hate-motivated incident "related to gender expression and gender identity."

The University of Alberta, MacEwan University, University of Calgary, Mount Royal University and the University of Lethbridge were among numerous institutions that issued public statements condemning the attack this week.

"We are currently exploring many avenues related to safety and security from those concerns being raised following this assault," U of A interim provost and academic vice-president Verna Yiu said Friday.

University of Calgary political science professor Melanee Thomas told CBC on Saturday that she wasn't surprised by the Waterloo incident — she has also has faced severe harassment that's led to going to the police.

"I think the striking thing is how not surprised I was," she said.

"Don't even get me started on how poor the response is to systematic violence, racism and misogyny."

In a public statement Friday, U of C interim provost and academic vice-president Penny Werthner condemned gender-based violence and discrimination, and called the Waterloo incident "indefensible."

Her statement notes how the U of C addresses safety through its emergency management program, which oversees emergency alerts and co-ordination with Calgary Police Service on potentially dangerous situations. Security teams patrol the campus regularly and monitor for potential concerns via CCTV cameras, according to Werthner.

However, Thomas said there needs to be consistent and sustained action from university leadership to tackle systemic violence.

"One of the things I would like my employer to do is to acknowledge that this is actually a real issue and to address it proactively, instead of only talking about it in reactions to somebody getting stabbed at Waterloo," she said.

Thomas said the lack of investment by universities in humanities subjects could perpetuate a situation where gender-based violence goes unchecked. 

"The work that talks about why this is becoming politicized the way that this is, and why it's a problem, it's not [of] value to the research area, so there's been silence," Thomas said. 

Putting allyship into 'bold action'

In a statement Friday, the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations called the Waterloo stabbing an "attack" on academic freedom.

"Universities are a place where knowledge is discussed and disseminated, and this violent assault is clearly an attempt to silence this sharing of knowledge."

Incoming association president Dan O'Donnell said, "I do think that there are systemic problems across the leadership of Canadian universities, where we need people who are prepared to stand up for the values of free inquiry."

Anna Murphy, a Calgary LGBTQ educator, said communities in Canada have been raising concerns about rising hate for years.

"It is so important that we are putting our allyship into bold action, and it's unfortunate, to say the absolute least, that a horrific, senseless act of hate, like what we've seen out of Waterloo has to be that reminder," she said.

Murphy said addressing violence against the LGBTQ community starts with support from the top with institutions like the federal government, but it's also important in community relationships.

"We've seen governments taking action whether it's through policy or funding, but it also honestly starts with our neighbours," Murphy said about putting allyship into action.

"My neighbours recognizing that my identity as a woman, as someone who is transgender, is not a debate. It's not an opinion. It's not an ideology. It is a reality."