Professors hate Jim Balsillie’s think tank enough to boycott two Ontario universities

Canadian professors triumphed over former Research in Motion exec Jim Balsillie earlier in the month when they got York University to reject a partnership with Balsillie’s think tank (one of the few instances, we imagine, when not getting $30 million was viewed as a victory). Looking to keep the momentum going, the Canadian Association of University Teachers has come out with a warning to the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University: loosen ties with the Balsillie’s Centre for International Governance Innovation or face a boycott this fall. The association believes the CIGI has way too much sway over the universities’ joint Balsillie School of International Affairs and gave the pair of universities six months to remove threats to academic freedom or they’ll discourage academics from working at either university come November. Both universities maintain that the allegations are unfounded, while CIGI responded with the usual “hey-we-love-academic-freedom” soundbites. As for Balsillie, we imagine he’s already at work on another op-ed. [Toronto Star]