Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council Compares Peaceful Student Protest to Nazi Terror

OTTAWA, April 7, 2015 /CNW/ - Students are calling for the resignation of Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, from the Carleton University Board of Governors after an e-mail was released in which he equated a peaceful student protest with tactics used by "Brownshirts and Maoists."

"Members of the highest decision-making body at Carleton University should respect students' right to free speech and peaceful dissent, rather than equating it with Nazi violence," said Michael Bueckert, Vice President Academic of the Graduate Students' Association. "Wernick's comments reflect a fundamental disregard for public participation in democratic university governance."

Wernick's remarks were made in reference to the actions of eight students who peacefully disrupted a meeting of Carleton's Board of Governors on March 30 over a Task Force report that recommended a tuition fee increase. Student protesters used a megaphone to highlight the financial difficulties students face while pursuing a post-secondary education in a province with the highest tuition fees and lowest per-capita funding. Board member and Professor Root Gorelick described the incident in his blog as "a remarkably peaceful protest, a beautiful example of free speech and peaceful civil disobedience."

"Many members of the Carleton community were offended by Wernick's comments and his blatant disrespect for students," said Bueckert. "Furthermore, his comments are inappropriate and deeply offensive to communities that experienced the brutal violence of the Nazi regime."

More information, including the e-mails cited above, visit gsacarleton.ca/2015/04/backgrounder-deputy-clerk-of-the-privy-council-and-member-of-the-carleton-university-board-of-governors-compares-peaceful-student-protest-to-nazi-terror/

SOURCE Carleton University Graduate Students' Association

Michael Bueckert, Vice-President Academic of the Graduate Students' Association, Cell: 613-315-7947, Email: [email protected]