<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<o:p></o:p>
<div class="moz-forward-container"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><font
face="Tahoma" size="2">
<div>
<div class="WordSection1">
<p><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"
align="center"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif"">Statement
to York’s Senate regarding the Dahdaleh donation</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"
align="center"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif"">Ricardo
Grinspun</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"
align="center"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif"">22
September 2016</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="text-align:center;line-height:150%"
align="center"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif""> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif"">Earlier
this month I wrote to Senate Executive asking for an
item of Other Business to discuss the donation from
philanthropist Victor Dahdaleh. I also put forward a
hortatory motion that </span><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman ,
serif","serif";color:#262626">expressed
disapproval of the university’s decision to accept a
donation from him and to give him an honorary
doctorate and name an important building and a
research institute after him. Dahdaleh received an
honorary doctor of laws degree on June 20. The TEL
building has been renamed the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh
Building in recognition of a $20 million donation, and
the University has also announced the establishment of
The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">In the
rationale for the motion, I wrote that given York
University’s formal commitment to academic integrity
and service to social justice, the University should
not be honouring a businessman whose financial
dealings have made troubling headlines<a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn1" href="#_edn1"
name="_ednref1" title=""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[i]</span></span></span></a>
around the world or celebrating him as a
representative of the university and as someone our
graduates should emulate. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">According to
a news release from the CBC, Victor Dahdaleh has been
featured in news stories about his “battle with
criminal charges and a billion-dollar lawsuit on two
continents over an international bribery scandal — all
the while forging close ties with a trio of Canadian
universities.” <a moz-do-not-send="true"
onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
target="_blank" x_onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn2" href="#_edn2"
name="_ednref2" title=""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[ii]</span></span></span></a>
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">Referring to
the so-called “Panama Papers,” the CBC adds:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><i><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">The huge
leak of offshore financial records reveals Dahdaleh,
a… metals magnate, is indeed, as long suspected, the
mysterious middleman known in U.S. court documents
as "Consultant A" — described as having handed out
tens of millions of dollars in inducements to
officials at a Persian Gulf smelting company in
exchange for supplier contracts that went to one of
the world's biggest aluminum conglomerates.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><i><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">Dahdaleh
denies any wrongdoing and was acquitted in a British
criminal trial, but his client, a unit of aluminum
industry heavyweight Alcoa, pleaded guilty to a U.S.
bribery charge in 2014 as a result of the scandal.
With its parent company, it paid one of the
biggest-ever anti-corruption penalties in American
history — $384 million US.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">York’s
association with Mr. Dahdale has also become news. The
Toronto Star reports<a moz-do-not-send="true"
onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
target="_blank" x_onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn3" href="#_edn3"
name="_ednref3" title=""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[iii]</span></span></span></a>
that</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><i><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">The
Canadian middleman in a massive international
“corruption scheme,” in which U.S. officials say he
“enriched himself” with $400 million (U.S.) in
markups and made “at least $110 million in corrupt
payments,” was celebrated by York University with an
honorary degree Monday.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><i><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">It’s the
second prestigious honour Victor Phillip Dahdaleh
has received from York recently. Last year, the
university minted a new global health institute in
his name following a $20-million donation Dahdaleh
made to the university.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">According to
York’s guidelines on honorary degrees, “At this rite
of passage [convocation] the University… personalizes
its abstract ideals through the granting of honorary
degrees to people whose achievements represent the
values the University cherishes, whose benefactions
have strengthened the community and the institution,
and whose public lives are deemed worthy of emulation
by the graduands.” The pervasive and widely documented
questions about the ethics of Mr. Dahdale’s business
affairs and the history of his money surely do not
position him well to “represent the values the
University cherishes” and thus, should have prevented
him from receiving such an honor. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">According to
David Robinson, executive director of the Canadian
Association of University Teachers, </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-left:36.0pt;line-height:150%;text-autospace:none"><i><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">There was
clearly in this particular case some serious
questions about the ethical behaviour of this
individual ... I think all the institutions have to
practise a bit more due diligence… If there's any
concerns about violation of ethical standards or any
other legal issues, donations should be rejected. I
think it sullies the name of a university or college
if it's associated with an unsavoury business or
character.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">As the top
body responsible for the University’s academic
mission, it is incumbent upon Senate to express its
view regarding the decisions that brought about such a
negative impact on the University’s academic
reputation.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">What
happened after I submitted the motion was instructive.
Senate Executive, which in my interpretation behaved
like an appendix of the President and Board of
Governors rather than the executive of a deliberative
body, chose not to rule the motion in order although
they had no valid reasons to vote it out of order.
Thus they simply excluded it from the Agenda package,
sacrificing collegial governance and the right of
Senate to discuss and express its view on a matter
that has negatively affected York’s academic
reputation. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">These are
usual results when rich men give donations to public
institutions (on purpose referring to “men,” the
source of most of these large donations). I asked that
the “other business” agenda item be titled “Donation
from philanthropist Victor Dahdaleh”. Senate Executive
changed it to “Due Diligence in the Acceptance of
Gifts and the Recognition of Donors.” This is
misleading, as it suggests York lacked due diligence
in checking Mr. Dahdaleh’s background. Is it credible
that they knew nothing of these matters? Let’s face
it: York went ahead fully aware of all the relevant
information – it chose money over York’s values and
reputation. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">York is in
good company here; Mr. Dahdaleh has been honoured by
the London School of Economics and McGill University,
among others. This does not seem to have sheltered Mr.
Dahdeleh from critical reporting on his business
achievements, as his legal battles are still the
subject of news stories today.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-top:12.0pt;line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">The fact
that Executive didn’t want Mr. Dahdaleh’s name in the
Agenda item is not surprising. Academic freedom and
free speech are often impacted by such donations, as
the overriding motivation is to get the money. An
implicit or explicit part of the agreements is
branding, and for the donor, the opportunity to buy
respectability, since their main line of business may
give them power and money but not necessarily
respectability. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">In the
secret agreement for Peter Munk’s donation to U-T –
later leaked out and now available online – the
protection of his branding is spelled out as a
commitment. Secrecy and a perversion of academic
planning – affected by those confidential agreements –
is now inherent to these donations. At York, the
secret agreement with Seymour Schulich has allegedly
influenced academic planning for decades, and we don’t
know if secret agreements with other York benefactors
are also secretly influencing decisions on, for
example, the organization and ranking of disciplines,
the distribution of full time faculty hiring among
different faculties, or research priorities. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%">All this
represents an aberration of public policy, part of a
gradual privatization of university education. As
governments curtail funding, the pressure to seek
private funding increases. Since donations represent
capital funding, they distort forever the distribution
of operational funding that must support the
university’s intellectual and physical infrastructure.
As donations represent massive legal tax avoidance
mechanisms, much of this money comes from you and me,
and from the students’ parents, not from the donor.
Government often steps in to match the donor’s money,
thus increasing public expenditures for private
priorities. In the case of the infamous CIGI agreement
with York, which was rejected by the faculty of the
Osgoode Law School for its interference with academic
freedom, most of the money would come from the public,
not from Jim Balsillie. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%"><span
style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Times
New Roman , serif","serif"">The matters
here are consequential. York is currently searching
for a new president and the terms of reference speak
directly to her/his ability to bring big money for
York’s recently announced major fundraising campaign.
Upholding York’s values and attracting big financial
donors often do not go hand in hand. Which will have
the upper hand? <br>
<br>
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif""><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<pre><o:p> </o:p></pre>
</div>
<div style="mso-element:endnote-list"><br clear="all">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%">
<div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn1">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn1" href="#_ednref1"
name="_edn1" title=""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[i]</span></span></span></a>
A detailed account of the allegations and the legal
processes in the U.K. and United States can be found
here: <a moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-14/billionaire-found-in-middle-of-bribery-case-avoids-u-s-probe"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-08-14/billionaire-found-in-middle-of-bribery-case-avoids-u-s-probe</span></a><span
class="MsoHyperlink"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">The concerns are not
recent; see, for example, this 2008 article: </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-mystery-of-victor-dahdaleh/article18447616/"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-mystery-of-victor-dahdaleh/article18447616/</span></a><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
target="_blank" x_onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn2" href="#_ednref2"
name="_edn2" title=""></a><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times
New
Roman","serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[ii]</span></span></span></span><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/panama-papers-victor-dahdaleh-alcoa-bribery-case-1.3598527"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/panama-papers-victor-dahdaleh-alcoa-bribery-case-1.3598527</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span></p>
</div>
<div style="mso-element:endnote" id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
target="_blank" x_onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);"
style="mso-endnote-id:edn3" href="#_ednref3"
name="_edn3" title=""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-family:"Times New
Roman","serif""><span
class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times
New
Roman","serif";color:black;mso-fareast-language:EN-CA">[iii]</span></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif""> </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
href="https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/20/panama-papers-businessman-honoured-by-york-university.html"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/20/panama-papers-businessman-honoured-by-york-university.html</span></a><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">. See also: </span><a
moz-do-not-send="true" onclick="return
checkLinkHref(this.href);" target="_blank"
x_onclick="return checkLinkHref(this.href);"
href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/panama-papers-victor-dahdaleh-york-university-honorary-degree-1.3644284"><span
style="font-family:"Times New Roman ,
serif","serif"">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/panama-papers-victor-dahdaleh-york-university-honorary-degree-1.3644284</span></a></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</font></font>
</div>
</body>
</html>