The university student who made headlines when he protested in front of MUN President Vianne Timmons was in Supreme Court in St. John’s today as lawyers argued the justification of sanctions against him.
NTV’s Rosie Mullaley reports.
Memorial University will reimburse more than $3 million dollars to students for time missed during the recent faculty association strike. NTV’s Beth Penney has the details.
Memorial University president Vianne Timmons is taking a voluntary, six-week paid leave of absence while a committee of Indigenous leaders holds discussions on Timmons’ past claims of Mi’kmaw heritage.
The move comes after a CBC investigation raised questions about Timmons’ past membership in an unrecognized Mi’kmaq band in Nova Scotia and her past statements on Indigenous heritage.
The Board of Regents announced Monday it is striking a committee of Indigenous leaders to lead a Roundtable Engagement with Indigenous Peoples to consider the president’s claims of Mi’kmaw heritage and provide guidance to the board on this matter.
“While our initial understanding was that President Timmons did not claim Indigenous identity, we have received a lot of feedback from the community,” Glen Barnes, the chair of the Board of Regents, wrote in a statement. “We have received important questions about the president’s actions, and we believe we have a responsibility to Indigenous Peoples and a fiduciary duty as a Board to explore these questions further.”
Timmons also released a statement Monday with an apology.
“While I have shared that I am not Mi’kmaq and I do not claim an Indigenous identity, questions about my intentions in identifying my Indigenous ancestry and whether I have benefitted from sharing my understanding of my family’s history have sparked important conversations on and beyond our campus,” Timmons wrote. “I have been reflecting on this feedback from the Indigenous community, and I sincerely regret any hurt or confusion sharing my story may have caused. That was never my intention and I deeply apologize to those I have impacted.”
Dr. Neil Bose, interim provost and vice-president academic, will fill in as acting president during Timmons’ leave of absence.
“We have started the process of engaging with Indigenous leaders in our province to lead these conversations and we will have an update about the scope, timelines and leadership of the Roundtable Engagement soon,” Barnes wrote.
Memorial University president Vianne Timmons released a lengthy statement Tuesday on the issue of Indigenous identity. She says her family, through her father, has Mi’kmaw ancestry, but she herself is not Mi’kmaq and is not Indigenous. Her family had been registered in a Cape Breton band that is not federally recognized, but she grew uncomfortable with that membership over time as she was not raised in the community or the culture, so she discontinued it. Timmons said in her statement that falsely claiming Indigenous identity is categorically wrong, and she will be more cognizant in the future about how she shares information about her heritage.
The full statement can be read here.
She was abducted at knife-point from her home in Utah when she was 14, and for nine months, she was abused and terrorized. Elizabeth Smart was in St. John’s today to speak about her traumatic experience and her journey to give other victims hope.
NTV’s Rosie Mullaley reports, and a warning to our viewers, some of the details in this story may be disturbing.
After reaching a deal with the university earlier this month, the MUN Faculty Association officially ratified the deal on Friday. NTV’s Bailey Howard tells us more.
Members of the MUN Faculty Association have voted to ratify a new four-year collective agreement with the university.
The deal includes a 12 per cent raise over four years, an extra month of pay for teaching-term contract workers, no change to post-retirement benefits, and a committee to review collegial governance.
The deal also recognizes the value and importance of Indigenous forms of knowledge.
Thursday was the first full day of classes at Memorial University after the faculty strike and a partial snow day on Wednesday. NTV’s Bailey Howard reports.
Classes resumed at Memorial University after a delayed opening Wednesday. Faculty are back on the job after a tentative deal was reached to end the two-week strike. NTV’s Bailey Howard reports.
After a 12-day faculty strike, students are going back to class at Memorial University on Wednesday.
Details of the back-to-work plan were released last night after the university and faculty association reached a tentative agreement on Friday.
The academic term will not be extended, so the semester will still end on April 21st. NTV’s Bailey Howard reports.
