Cambridge strike squashes McLachlin speech
Campus hastily avoids forcing former top judge to cross picket line of law professors
OTTAWA— Cambridge University hastily cancelled a speech Friday by Canada’s former top judge after the union for striking academic staff called on Justice Beverley McLachlin to respect their picket line.
As pickets were set up at six sites across Cambridge faculties Friday, word came McLachlin — who was part of a 2015 landmark ruling that recognized a constitutional right to strike in Canada — would not deliver a prestigious law lecture on the British campus after all.
The Star reported Thursday that McLachlin, who had already travelled to the United Kingdom, was scheduled to deliver the annual Sir David Williams lecture in honour of an eminent former professor of the University of Cambridge’s law school.
Early Friday the University and College Union’s Cambridge branch announced the “last-minute cancellation” of McLachlin’s speech, which was later confirmed without further comment by the university’s administration.
It’s not clear whether McLachlin had expressed reservations after being advised of the Star’s inquiries and the union’s concerns, or whether organizers decided not to put her in the awkward position of having to decide. Neither McLachlin nor the university responded to requests for clarification Friday.
The University and College Union said the cancellation of the event “was a huge disappointment for all involved, but that the blame for the disruption lay firmly with university leaders.” Lawyer Paul Champ, who represented one of the intervenors in the seminal 2015 Canadian case that constitutionalized the right to strike in Canada, said Friday he was glad to hear the lecture was cancelled.
“It would have put the Chief Justice in a very awkward position to cross a picket line of law professors. Given
“Given her landmark rulings on labour rights, I am sure it was a spectacle she wanted to avoid.” PAUL CHAMP LAWYER INVOLVED IN THE 2015 LANDMARK RULING THAT RECOGNIZED A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO STRIKE IN CANADA
her landmark rulings on labour rights, I am sure it was a spectacle she wanted to avoid.”
Waseem Yaqoob, representative of the union’s Cambridge branch, said in a press release that it could have been avoided “if the universities’ representatives would simply commit to proper negotiations on pensions.
“Nobody wants to take strike action, but staff at Cambridge feel they have been left with no choice,” he said.
McLachlin was the invited featured guest at the annual event that regularly draws a who’s who of the legal community from Cambridge, London and beyond, and had planned to deliver a speech entitled “Where Are We Going? Reflections on the Rule of Law in a Dangerous World.”
But her presence was flagged to the Star Thursday as a concern amid the nationwide strikes. After the Star began making inquiries, the union appealed to McLachlin directly in writing, calling on her to stand up for a principle she espoused while on the bench and not cross their picket line.
Picket sites were set up in Cambridge on Friday and featured mostly younger members of staff who face changes their union says will cost them dearly.
The union represents academic staff including professors, researchers and librarians across Britain. It is in the second day of 14 days of strike action over proposals it says will slash the benefits of the universities’ pension scheme. The union says the changes would “leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 (or nearly $18,000) a year worse off in retirement than under the current setup.”
David Robinson, spokesperson for the Canadian Association of University Teachers, said Friday the decision to cancel McLachlin’s lecture was “the right thing to do . . . given how awkward it would have been to hold an event while faculty were outside on a picket lines.”
Cambridge University vice-chancellor Stephen Toope, a Canadian, called for resumption of talks later Friday, calling the nationwide strike actions “deeply regrettable.” The BBC reported talks were set to resume Tuesday.