On May 27, seven APUO members were refused entry to a public meeting of the Board of Governors (BoG).
In a continuation of the Central Administration’s erosion of transparency, accountability and collegial governance, physical access to the floor where the meeting took place was barred, elevators were disabled and stairwells locked to block public access to the meeting. Protection Services staff confirmed they had been instructed not to permit any member of the public to the meeting floor but were unable to identify who had issued the directive.
As per University of Ottawa By-Law No. 1, section 4.6, “meetings of the Board shall be open to the public” unless the Board votes to move the meeting in camera1 to discuss confidential matters, as stipulated in section 4.7. For a long time, APUO Members and other members of the community have been attending University of Ottawa Board of Governors meetings to observe how the campus’ highest decision-making body operates.
As we reported in our May Bulletin, during the April 29 BoG meeting, observing Members were shocked to hear President Frémont inform those in attendance that they “can stay home for the next meeting and observe it from the YouTube Livestream instead”. It is worth noting that these livestreams are often audio-only.
On May 27, the Board of Governors met in a CRX meeting room to, in addition to other agenda items, discuss and vote on the university’s 2025-2026 budget. APUO Members and staff attempted to observe the meeting, as they did during the April 2025, but were met by two Protection officers and refused access to the entire floor on which the meeting was held. The Members were instead instructed to go to a Desmarais classroom to observe via YouTube livestream, which the APUO deems to be an unacceptable alternative to allowing campus community members to observe in-person.
The APUO has written to the Chair of the Board of Governors to express our concern with this decision. The next Board of Governors meeting is Wednesday, June 18 at 4 p.m. You are invited to join APUO Executives and staff who will, again, attempt to observe the meeting in person. Please RSVP by emailing nicole@apuo.ca.
Collegial Governance Under Attack
The events of May 27 represent a flagrant disrespect of University of Ottawa By-Law No. 1. Members of our campus community have the right to observe decision-making that directly impacts their working and learning conditions. A livestream is a poor alternative to allowing campus stakeholders observe meetings first-hand and prevents members of the campus community from being afforded speaking rights from Board members, a right enshrined in the Code Morin, the procedural code used by the university’s governing bodies. The central administration’s insistence on limiting observers to a livestream is not only unprecedented at the University of Ottawa but is an attack on transparent, accountable and collegial governance at a time when the Government of Ontario seeks to undermine universities’ autonomy.
Just last month, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 33 – Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025 – which, if passed, would undermine college and university autonomy by allowing the province to regulate student ancillary fees (likely leading to cuts to student services) and impose new admission policies. These are decisions usually left to Boards of Governors, and instead of fighting to defend Ontario universities’ autonomous governance, the Central Administration of the University of Ottawa has elected to further alienate the campus community by denying them access to our university’s decision-making bodies. In the context of broader provincial attacks on university governance, the Central Administration should, now, more than ever, unite with the campus community to defend our university.
In Their Words – What Members Experienced on May 27
To conclude, we invite you to read your colleagues’ reflections on what they experienced when attempting to observe the BoG meeting:
“Anticipating discussions on the next budget, I went to the CRX building on 27 May to observe the Board of Governors meeting. In the lobby, a security guard stood by the elevators, and access to the sixth floor—where the Board was meeting—was restricted. I was denied entry and directed to watch remotely from the Desmarais Building. The experience left me feeling like a second‑class citizen. As the financial crisis has deepened, collegial governance has eroded as well; after nearly twenty‑five years at the University of Ottawa, I recently remarked to a colleague that it has been a very long time since I last heard anyone use the word collegiality on our campus.” -Marcel Turcotte, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
“I recently learned that the Board of Governors meetings were open to the public. After 20 years at UO, I felt it was part of my civic duty to familiarize myself with this university body. In fact, I interpreted this openness as an invitation to do so — a kind of encouragement to take an interest in the common good. However, access to the floor where the meeting was taking place was blocked, and at the elevator entrance, an employee, accompanied by a security guard, told me she was aware that members of the public could attend, but she had received explicit instructions not to let anyone in, without giving any reason.” -Louis Hotte, Department of Economics
“If the BoG has no objection to broadcasting the meeting live to make the discussions public, what are they so afraid of that they barricade themselves from professors (in some cases former colleagues)? At the previous BoG meeting, professors calmly listened and then left. It’s not as if we came with sticks and horns to disrupt the meeting and intimidate the BoG… The maneuvers to get rid of the audience by changing the time at the last minute, then moving the meeting to a room that was made inaccessible without a card to unlock the elevator, even though the meetings are supposed to be public, reveal an attitude on the part of management towards professors that is deplorable and does not encourage a favorable climate for the negotiations to renew the collective agreement, which are due to resume in 2026.” – A Member from the Faculty of Arts (translation of the original French quote)
1. In camera refers to meetings, or portions of a meeting, that are not open to the public due to the matters being discussed. To move in camera requires a motion and vote.