The campaign to stop Bill 18 is well underway. A coalition of faculty associations of all the public universities in Alberta has launched a new website to help you voice your dismay to our political leaders about the “Provincial Priorities Act, 2024.” Go to Stop Bill 18 to learn more.
Bill 18 is the proposed new law to vet all federal funding coming into Alberta. In its current form, it would subject all federal research grants to review and potential rejection or redirection. If passed into law, this would create unprecedented political interference in academic research since the review would be conducted by government officials, well outside the academic peer review process. This is antithetical to the ethical practice of research.
The Government is moving fast with Bill 18 but there is still time to stop it or remove post-secondary education from its provisions. To help you do this we have created a form at https://stopbill18.ca/. On this website homepage press the Add Your Voice tab. This will take you to a letter which you can send directly to Premier Danielle Smith and Minister Rajan Sawhney. You are welcome to add or change its text before doing so and to add your MLA as a recipient. As of last week, nearly ninety faculty members from across Alberta had used this form to write to politicians. Together, we will stop this unprecedented political interference in academic freedom.