CANADA: Tories accused of academic witch hunt

Two University of Ottawa professors, vocal critics of the federal Conservative government, say they have become targets of a new political intimidation tactic aimed at using their private, personal information against them, write Susan Delacourt and Bruce Campion-Smith for The Star.

Professors Errol Mendes and Amir Attaran, frequently castigated as Liberal sympathisers by the Conservatives, were notified in recent weeks of two unusually massive freedom-of-information requests at the University of Ottawa, demanding details of the professors' employment, expenses and teaching records.

The person (or persons) behind the requests remains anonymous under Ontario law, but Mendes and Attaran are convinced that it's part of an academic witch hunt by the governing party - part of a wider campaign to silence university voices that may be critical of the Conservatives. This hyperpartisan chill descended on the federal bureaucracy years ago: now the concern is that it's stretching into academia as well.
Full report on The Star site