When democracy teeters, where do universities stand?
University of Regina Professor Marc Spooner analyzes the threats to academia’s public mission.
Held before an attentive Toronto audience, the intense conversation doubled as a warning. For Marc Spooner, professor of Education at the University of Regina and dedicated champion of academic freedom, the signs of an authoritarian turn in liberal democracies are piling up — and universities are on the front line.
“We’re in a particular moment,” Dr. Spooner said. “What we once thought was stable in liberal democracies — civic rights, public institutions, the judiciary, even the academy — is now under threat.” While the United States is the most obvious example, he said, Canada is not immune. In Alberta and Ontario, in particular, performance-based funding policies and restrictive curriculum reforms aim to narrow the mission of universities, “essentially reducing them to job-training centres.” He described this trend as “deeply troubling.”
Dr. Spooner made the remarks during a moderated discussion at the 2025 Congress of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences at George Brown College in Toronto in June, and co-hosted by University Affairs. As part of a the wide-ranging conversation, he delivered an insightful analysis of the threats weighing on the public mission of universities.
The COVID-19 pandemic, he noted, intensified ideological shifts, deepening distrust toward universities and accelerating the rejection of science and expertise. He believes that the return of diseases like measles in Alberta can be linked to the decline of scientific discussion in public spaces. Facts, research and even knowledge itself are being challenged: “There’s a broader crisis of trust in expertise,” he said.
The regression is also apparent, he said, in the attack on equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) policies. This is not just an American phenomenon; the principles of EDI are also being called into question in Canadian political discourse. “When it comes to EDI, conservative governments have done a good job of framing it as a threat to merit and expertise, when in fact, it’s about expanding access to all the best talent,” Dr. Spooner said.
He argued that the rising hostility toward EDI can also be explained by a change in perspective. “Before COVID, EDI was more of a distant idea for some people. They liked it in theory,” he said. “But once the pandemic affected them personally, their openness to social change collapsed. What was once an abstract concept suddenly felt threatening — and that resentment spilled over into other areas, including education, media and policy.”
Social media did the rest of the work. Algorithms that push divisive content fed the growing polarization. On X (formerly Twitter), moderate posts are buried in an avalanche of “far-right content,” he said. “Say something even mildly supportive of government policy and you’re swarmed.”
In the face of this reality, the institutional left failed by underestimating its opposition, Dr. Spooner believes. “The left became complacent. It assumed it had won the argument on EDI and science and stopped listening,” he said. “It didn’t explain EDI in ways that connected with people’s real lives and fears.”
He is vocally critical of Ontario’s Bill 33, which mandates universities to admit students “based on merit.” To Dr. Spooner, this “undermines institutional autonomy.” Merit, he said, “can’t be reduced to grades alone. Grades are shaped by so many factors — poverty, family circumstances, access to quiet study spaces.” He also denounced provisions in the legislation that allow the government to limit students’ opt-in ancillary fees, threatening services such as food banks, health centres and employment assistance programs.
Going beyond criticism, Dr. Spooner issued a call to action: “Tenured professors have a responsibility to speak out. If we stay silent, we hand authoritarianism a gift.” He called for “deeper collaborations between scholars and media — especially in investigative journalism.” According to him, universities “still have the capacity and expertise to dig deep when media outlets are underfunded.”
When asked about how to preserve academic integrity in such a fraught climate, Dr. Spooner noted: “Too often, people invoke ‘neutrality’ to avoid controversy. But neutrality can be a form of complicity. I’m not neutral. I want to see inclusive campuses, strong public institutions, and more equitable societies. … Pretending we don’t have values doesn’t help anyone.”
Nearing the end of the conversation, Dr. Spooner emphasized that universities are a pillar of democracy — just like the press or the judiciary — and can only remain truly independent if they are free from market forces and government interference.
“We assumed [democratic institutions] would self-perpetuate, but that’s not how it works,” he said. “Every generation must engage actively. Democracy must be taught, modeled, and defended.”
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1 Comments
Thank heavens for Marc Spooner — a scholar who is unafraid to speak the truth during these troubling times for universities. Democracy cannot be taken for granted, especially when the independence of the academy is no longer assured.