Cafley: New woman president at uOttawa is just a first step
For the first time in its 177-year history, the University of Ottawa has appointed a woman as president and vice-chancellor. Marie-Eve Sylvestre's historic appointment deserves celebration—loud, proud and unapologetic. It's a glass-ceiling shatter heard across campus, in lecture halls and around board tables across the country.
Article content
But as we mark this milestone, we can't afford to romanticize it. One 'first' doesn't make a trend. It doesn't guarantee change. And it doesn't mean the path ahead will be smooth.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Sylvestre is a formidable choice: educated at Université de Montréal and Harvard, with more than two decades steeped in the culture of academia. She knows this institution. She knows the terrain. But history tells us that knowing the terrain doesn't always protect women from the pitfalls of leadership.
Article content
The reality is stark. In Canada, women university presidents are more likely to leave before completing their terms than are their male counterparts. Over the past decade, of the university presidencies that ended prematurely, 60 per cent were held by women — despite women making up only 30 per cent of presidents overall. Within Canada's U15 — the country's most research-intensive institutions — only 13 per cent of presidents are women. Sylvestre's appointment will bring that number to 20 per cent.
Article content
And the trend extends far beyond our borders. Globally, only 16 per cent of university presidents are women. Even among the world's top 200 universities, less than one in four is led by a woman. That figure alone should give us pause. What message does that send to the next generation of scholars, researchers and changemakers?
Article content
Article content
These patterns are not random; they follow a well-documented phenomenon known as the glass cliff. Women are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles during times of crisis, when success is harder to achieve and the risks of failure are high. It's a precarious path, and the fall, if it comes, is far more scrutinized.
Article content
Article content
In their powerful memoir Nerve, trailblazing university presidents Martha Piper and Indira Samarasekera recount what it meant to be the first — and, to this day, the only — women to lead their respective institutions. Their experiences lay bare the double binds, the isolation and the relentless pressure to perform without faltering. As Piper wrote candidly: 'Being the first is not good enough.'
Article content
She's right. A historic appointment doesn't mean we've arrived; it means we've begun. The real work lies in creating the conditions where women leaders are not only appointed but supported, sustained and succeeded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Federal review of access to information law ‘doesn't have credibility,' expert says
The federal government has launched an internal review of its access to information law, but one expert says the examination lacks legitimacy and falls short of the desires of transparency advocates. In a brief announcement on Friday, the government said it would be seeking feedback from stakeholders 'later in 2025.' During a press conference last week, a group of public interest advocacy organizations and access experts had called for an independent review of Ottawa's ailing access system. The group, which included academics, lawyers, journalists and activists, had drafted their own terms of reference for the examination. Matt Malone, a law professor at the University of Ottawa who spearheaded the call for an independent review, said the government 'has no incentive to engage in meaningful reform' and that the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the department that oversees the administration of the federal access regime and is conducting the review, is in an 'inherent conflict of interest' since it is itself regulated by access law. 'It's the government completely retaining control,' Prof. Malone continued. 'You can already see from this moment exactly where this process is going. It's going to be a waste of government resources, and it's going to undermine public trust in the government, because they're going to engage in a process that doesn't have credibility from the get-go. Independent stakeholders have said clearly what credibility looks like in this context. The government has said through their actions: 'We're not going to listen to you.'' 'This is sad,' he said. Secret Canada: How transparent is your city? Audit of freedom of information requests finds vast differences By law, the Access to Information Act, which governs federal access requests, must be reviewed every five years. The last review was launched in 2020, lasted 2½ years – almost one year longer than its original deadline – and delivered no recommendations, drawing the ire of government transparency experts. At the time, Michael Wernick, who retired as the public service's top bureaucrat in 2019, called the government's final report 'tepid and incrementalist.' In an e-mailed statement, Treasury Board spokesperson Rola Salem said the government is responsible for evaluating federal access legislation, and that the department intends to 'undertake a more focused and expedited review.' During the 2025 federal election campaign, Liberal Leader Mark Carney pledged to review Ottawa's access regime. 'An objective review of that would serve Canadians well, regardless of the result of the election,' he said. Access laws – sometimes called freedom of information or right to information legislation – exist in countries around the world and throughout Canada at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal level. They enshrine into law the principle that people have a right to know how their public institutions are being run and how tax dollars are being spent. These laws do this by allowing the public to make official requests for documents, which must then be disclosed – with limited exceptions. In 2023, a Globe and Mail investigation called Secret Canada looked at the state of Canada's access systems, including at the federal level. The Globe's reporting found that public institutions are routinely breaking access laws by violating statutory time limits, overusing redactions and claiming no records exist when they do. And they face few, if any, consequences for ignoring the precedents set by courts and information commissioners, the government-appointed watchdogs responsible for monitoring the system and mediating disputes.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump calls for special prosecutor to investigate 2020 election, reviving longstanding grievance
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden, repeating his baseless claim that the contest was marred by widespread fraud. 'Biden was grossly incompetent, and the 2020 election was a total FRAUD!' Trump said in a social media post in which he also sought to favorably contrast his immigration enforcement approach with that of the former president. 'The evidence is MASSIVE and OVERWHELMING. A Special Prosecutor must be appointed. This cannot be allowed to happen again in the United States of America! Let the work begin!' Trump's post, made as his Republican White House is consumed by a hugely substantial foreign policy decision on whether to get directly involved in the Israel-Iran war, is part of an amped-up effort by him to undermine the legitimacy of Biden's presidency. Earlier this month, Trump directed his administration to investigate Biden's actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor's 'cognitive decline.' Biden has dismissed the investigation as 'a mere distraction.' The post also revives a long-running grievance by Trump that the election was stolen even though courts around the country and a Trump attorney general from his first term found no evidence of fraud that could have affected the outcome. The Department of Homeland Security's cybersecurity arm pronounced the election 'the most secure in American history.' It was unclear what Trump had in mind when he called for a special prosecutor, but in the event Attorney General Pam Bondi heeds his call, she may face pressure to appoint someone who has already been confirmed by the Senate. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Friday. The Justice Department in recent years has appointed a succession of special counsels — sometimes, though not always, plucked from outside the agency — to lead investigations into politically sensitive matters, including into conduct by Biden and by Trump. Last year, Trump's personal lawyers launched an aggressive, and successful, challenge to the appointment of Jack Smith, the special counsel assigned to investigate his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. A Trump-appointed judge agreed, ruling that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland had exceeded his bounds by appointing a prosecutor without Senate approval and confirmation, and dismissed the case. That legal team included Todd Blanche, who is now deputy attorney general, as well as Emil Bove, who is Blanche's top deputy but was recently nominated to serve as a judge on a federal appeals court. ___ Follow the AP's coverage of President Donald Trump at
Vancouver Sun
5 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
G7 leaders vow to tackle migrant smuggling and foreign interference
BANFF, ALTA. — The leaders of the world's seven wealthiest democracies ended their annual summit Tuesday with promises to tackle six pressing policy issues, including artificial intelligence, transnational repression and migrant smuggling. As the two-day summit in Kananaskis, Alta., came to a close, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.S. and the U.K. issued six joint statements tackling wildfires, quantum and critical minerals as well as the three aforementioned issues. Absent from the list was a joint statement from all leaders on the war in Ukraine, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's attendance at the summit Tuesday. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Among the most comprehensive was the statement on artificial intelligence in which countries committed to developing an 'AI adoption roadmap'. Member countries agreed to accelerate their AI readiness and competitiveness and lower barriers to adoption in the private and public sector. The statement specifically targets AI adoption in the public service, arguing that it is necessary ' to drive efficiency and better serve our publics'. Transnational repression (TNR), a form of foreign interference, and illegal migration, which has become an issue of critical importance for many of the G7 member nations, are major issues in Canada. Member states issued a joint statement committing to further combat TNR, a particularly virulent form of foreign interference that uses coercion and threats to silence dissidents and quiet critics. The Canadian government has been seized with the issue of foreign interference, particularly in the case of Chinese interference in elections and India, which is alleged to have carried out an assassination on Canadian soil. '(Transnational repression) undermines national security, state sovereignty, the safety and human rights of victims, and principles of international law. It has a chilling effect in our countries,' reads the statement. The G7's Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM), a unit housed within Global Affairs Canada that monitors the internet for foreign state-sponsored disinformation, will also be taking on a larger role in the international combat against transnational repression. Transnational repression was highlighted by Foreign Interference Inquiry Commissioner Marie-Josée as a 'growing scourge' in her final report earlier this year. It is also very likely to come up during Prime Minister Mark Carney's bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday afternoon. In its 2024 annual report, Canada's spy agency said that India continues to be one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference operations in Canada, including transnational repression. 'Transnational repression plays a central role in India's activity in Canada,' reads the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report. In the statement, G7 members promised to develop a framework allowing countries to better share information about foreign TNR in their countries and how best counter it. They also committed to creating a TNR 'detection academy' with will help members and their allies with 'the technical skills and tools for identifying and responding to the latest technology-enabled threats,' reads the statement. The countries also adopted the 'Kananaskis Wildfire Charter', noting the record-breaking wildfires that have burned across every forested continent in recent years. The charter promises to increase global cooperation when it comes to preventing, fighting and recovering from wildfires worldwide. In 2024, more than 1,300 migrants crossed illegally into Canada and subsequently made refugee claims, according to Canadian government statistics, and even legal immigration has become controversial, given rapid increases in the growth of the Canadian population. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, the leaders of the G7 nations agreed to 'enhance border management and enforcement and dismantle the transnational organized crime groups profiting from both migrant smuggling and human trafficking.' The leaders said that it is in the national interest of the respective nations to counter human smuggling and human trafficking. The leaders said that migrant smuggling is often linked to money laundering, trafficking in persons and drugs, and other serious crimes. 'It can expose vulnerable smuggled persons to grave and life-threatening risks,' the leaders said. In 2024, the G7 adopted an action plan on migrant smuggling, and with Tuesday's statement says the leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the plan. The leaders vowed to use a 'follow the money' strategy of using financial intelligence to identify criminals, hold them accountable and seize their assets and profits. They also pledged to increase strengthen border management and work with social media companies to prevent advertising and co-ordination of migrant smuggling via online platforms. The statement also says that the leaders will work to tackle the use of irregular migration as a 'hybrid warfare tactic' or to undermine national stability. 'We will explore, consistent with our legal systems, the potential use of sanctions to target criminals involved in migrant smuggling and human trafficking operations from countries where those activities emanate,' the statement says. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
