The point of the University of Western Ontario’s education program should be to teach its students how to teach — but instead, it seems to be teaching students what to think by sabotaging the success of students who don’t agree with decolonization.
That’s at least the impression you get from a lawsuit served upon the university by alumna Margaret Munn. She alleges she was subjected to unfair treatment and ideological pressure during her studies, including harassment-like behaviour from her faculty’s associate dean, and is now seeking more than $1 million in damages with the help of the Free Speech Union of Canada and her lawyer, Lisa Bildy. Her allegations are detailed in a statement of claim that has been
, and have yet to be proven in court. Potentially years of proceedings lie ahead.
The University of Western Ontario was only recently served and must file a statement of defence; its spokesperson, Stephen Ledgley, told the National Post on Friday that he was unable to comment on ongoing litigation.
“Freedom of expression and diverse perspectives are central to our values, and we actively encourage dialogue and debate,” he added.
Munn came into the program with 30 years of experience, having taught English in Japan and adult education in Ontario. Though experienced, she only had a bachelor of arts, which limited her employability. Hence, she opted to get a bachelor of education from Western, starting in the fall of 2022.
Only, her experience in the program appears to have been a disaster. On her first day in a class titled “Indigenous Education: Towards a Decolonizing Pedagogy,” she questioned the relevance of the course to teaching students math or chemistry. The professor, according to Munn’s statement of claim, responded with a non-answer, pulled her aside after class to list injustices suffered by Indigenous people, and reported her to the associate dean, Kathryn Hibbert. (Hibbert was contacted for comment for this story; she referred the National Post to Western’s communications officer).
The following month, in October, Munn’s statement of claim alleges the decolonization professor reported her to the associate dean again for believing that it was wrong to stop others from wearing Halloween costumes for “cultural appropriation” reasons. Munn is originally from Scotland — and she’d seen Scottish garments used by non-Scots all the time.
The decolonial professor and two others took issue with her making a “transphobic” comment by misgendering the famed Ontario shop teacher Kerry/Kayla Lemieux, who at that time had gone viral for
a Z-cup chestpiece in the classroom. (The next year, he
to presenting as male).
Munn was also reported, allegedly, by an instructor for submitting an assignment that “contained certain sentiments regarding gender and the need for education to be apolitical,” and for stating that people are innocent until proven guilty and that “ogling isn’t a crime” in a class discussion about a teacher’s duty to report potential abuse.
November started with a meeting with the faculty’s teacher education manager, who has
for Wilfrid Laurier University. Munn was allegedly told that her comments on cultural appropriation “did not foster a safe environment.” She was also told to rewrite a reflection essay for her decolonization professor because her earlier submission was offensive and not properly reflective.
The decolonization professor, per the statement of claim, went on to convene the faculty’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee, which made a non-binding recommendation to Hibbert that Munn be expelled.
Munn was also made to meet with the associate dean and the teacher education manager on Nov. 7, in which the associate dean, according to the statement of claim, stated she took the DEI committee’s recommendation of expulsion seriously.
“During the meeting, Munn was accused of being racist, colonialist, transphobic and an advocate of child abuse (apparently for saying that she had received corporal punishment as a child and was none the worse for it),” according to the statement of claim. “Munn was told not to attend (the decolonization professor’s) classes, although she was still expected to complete the assignments.”
Munn learned the next day that her practicum placement was suspended; the associate dean later explained that this was because an investigation had been opened. On Nov. 26, the associate dean told Munn that she had been interviewing students and instructors, and had amassed new allegations. The associate dean also told Munn to stop debating in class and to stop using examples from Scotland in classroom discussions about Canadian education. All coming from an administration that supposedly valued diversity.
On Nov. 25, the associate dean met again with Munn, telling her she was now being investigated by the Student Code of Conduct office (Munn later learned that there was no such investigation). According to the statement of claim, the associate dean also told Munn that, as an immigrant, she “had not yet internalized her Canadian duty to advance Indigenous reconciliation.” Canadians don’t have such a duty.
In December, Munn alleges she was falsely accused of plagiarism, and was reported by two instructors to the Ontario College of Teachers. In January, according to the statement of claim, Munn was told in a meeting with the associate dean not to challenge Indigenous faculty members. She at least learned that the faculty’s investigation into her conduct was complete — but it had involved interviews with nameless accusers whom she could not face, and resulted in her being placed on conditions to remain in the program. One condition barred her from debating any policy or law that teachers had to follow.
Another condition ruled out questioning marginalized people entirely: “You will demonstrate through your behaviour, attitude and responses that when someone from a historically marginalized community is telling you what is culturally acceptable for their community, you will listen and learn, and not debate their cultural knowledge and experience.”
Munn was made to jump through hoops for the rest of the semester. She had to complete glitchy online Indigenous learning modules and discuss the content with the associate dean, retake the decolonization course and more. She alleges that the faculty constantly reinterpreted her conditions such that she was unable to fully comply. For example, at a faculty ceremony, she refused to shake the associate dean’s hand — as punishment, the faculty refused to give her a classroom placement once again. Bildy, Munn’s lawyer, described the process as “Kafkaesque.”
In late March, per the statement of claim, the associate dean “criticized Munn’s lack of professionalism and warned her that she could choose not to attest to a student’s suitability (to the Ontario College of Teachers) even if a student successfully completed a B.Ed. Program.”
Munn ultimately found a classroom placement and received positive reviews, but she was now months behind her fellow students. More trouble followed the next year: the Thames Valley District School Board, where she had taught adults for years on contract, wouldn’t hire her. She ultimately graduated in 2024.
Some justice has already been done: Munn’s treatment by her associate dean was tried before a university senate board in 2023, which found that the associate dean treated Munn unfairly in a number of ways.
Munn’s mental health suffered throughout the ordeal, as did her reputation and career. To compensate, she’s suing the university for negligence, harassment, breach of contract, defamation, infliction of mental distress, discrimination contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code and more.
“Although she has now managed to find a contract position at a local school, the reputational damage caused by Western is such that she will never achieve the employment security she had expected to achieve with her degree,” explained the statement of claim.
Munn’s experience was “immensely stressful,” said Bildy, who added that ideological pressure in the education profession seems to be growing. Bildy was also the lawyer of the late Ontario principal Richard Bilkszto, who
in 2023 in the course of suing the Toronto District School Board for bullying that allegedly occurred after he questioned an anti-racism instructor’s teachings.
“It would seem to me that there is a general feeling of unease amongst teachers who do not agree with the prevailing ideological orthodoxy,” Bildy said. “If you don’t share that worldview, you do not get to express your opinion. It’s very simple. If you do, you are very likely going to face consequences for that.
“Your union is likely not going to assist you. And you may find yourself before the Ontario Teachers College as well, facing a threat to your license. So most teachers who do not share that orthodoxy just keep their mouths shut and hope for an early retirement. It’s very sad.”
This case will be one to watch — in particular, for anyone concerned about how universities have politicized the education of children.
National Post
