Editor, the Gauntlet,
Dear University of Calgary President Elizabeth Cannon,
Earlier this week, a University of Calgary professor appeared on CBC television’s “Power and Politics with Evan Solomon” and used his precious airtime on our publicly funded national broadcaster to openly advocate outright political assassination (or as some prefer to call it, first degree murder). With regards to the life of Julian Assange, the political science professor clearly stated that [American President Barack] Obama should “put out a contract and maybe use a drone or something.”
I am sure you would agree that Tom Flanagan’s comments are well beyond any reasonable interpretation of the right to free speech in this country and are not acceptable coming from someone who is entrusted with the very serious responsibility of teaching at a publicly funded university.
To be clear, Tom Flanagan’s comments are extremely damaging to the U of C’s reputation in the eyes of ordinary Alberta taxpayers such as myself. If the university’s president and department heads are willing to tolerate or support a professor’s incitement to commit murder on broadcast television, then I will have truly lost all faith in the university and its so-called leadership.
As a concerned citizen of the province of Alberta, I demand to know what disciplinary action will be taken against professor Tom Flanagan. Personally, I believe Mr. Flanagan should be dismissed from his post as U of C professor before someone gets hurt or killed because of his cavalier attitude.
Regards,
Mike Baran