Despite the numerous international awards and academic recognition that Vancouver-based David Suzuki has received, critics remain opposed to the environmentalist receiving an honorary degree from an Albertan university.

After graduating with an honours Bachelor degree in biology Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1958 and a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, Suzuki had been an assistant professor at the University of Alberta from 1962 to 1963. Thereafter, he became a University of British Columbia genetics professor until 2001. He has been a UBC professor emeritus and holds over 25 honorary degrees from across Canada, the U.S, and Australia.

In addition to his long career hosting science programs on CBC TV and radio, Suzuki has been appointed to the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, received the UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science, and was honoured with the Freedom of the City Award from the City of Vancouver in 2015.

However, all of those credentials have not stopped opposition arising in response to the University of Alberta's decision to give Suzuki an honorary degree. The backlash, which includes Albertan premier Rachel Notley among its ranks, is due to Suzuki's criticism of the Albertan energy industry's role in environmental issues and climate change, such as the Kinder Morgan pipeline project.

The university initially addressed the controversy with a statement on April 13. The school acknowledged the debates surrounding the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion and clarified that the degree "is not a signal of institutional agreement with any individual perspective on a controversial issue; rather, it honours the contributions and full body of work of those who represent diverse backgrounds and fields of endeavour".

However, U of A engineering dean and professor Fraser Forbes published a statement on April 23 on the school's engineering faculty website about what he called "a direct and alarming threat to our Faculty of Engineering and the worst crisis, a crisis of trust, that we’ve faced in more than three decades".

He pinpointed the problem as being due to honorary degree recipients being selected by the university's senate without the participation of faculty and he argued for increased advocacy for Alberta's industrial sectors.

Then on April 24, U of A president and vice-chancellor David H. Turpin issued a statement defending the honorary degree.

While recognizing Suzuki as a "controversial figure", Turpin said the university will not back down. He argued that the university should not be afraid to face controversy in the "the pursuit of knowledge, the generation of ideas, and the discovery of new truths" as well as "freedom of inquiry, academic integrity, and independence".

Backlash to the decision includes the withdrawal of funding and rallies being planned.

Here is Turpin's statement in full (originally published at the U of A website):

David Suzuki is a controversial figure. A companion of the Order of Canada in recognition of his promotion of science literacy and education, he has been an inspiration to many around the world and a force for major societal change. He has also attracted strong criticism for the positions he advocates. Since the University of Alberta announced we will confer an honorary degree on David Suzuki at our spring convocation, that controversy has flared.

David Suzuki is a vocal critic of Alberta’s energy industry. I have heard from many Albertans who are dismayed by our decision, especially now that the Trans Mountain pipeline project is under threat. I understand the importance of Alberta’s energy industry, and we are proud of the role that U of A researchers and alumni have played in its development since the 1920s.

Many alumni, donors, and friends have asked me to reverse the decision. They have let me know that their financial gifts and partnerships with the university depend on it. Others have suggested the university’s very reputation rests on our doing so.

Withdrawing David Suzuki’s honorary degree might seem an easy solution to the controversy. So why would the U of A continue to support such an unpopular and untimely decision?

We will stand by our decision because our reputation as a university—an institution founded on the principles of freedom of inquiry, academic integrity, and independence—depends on it.

Universities must not be afraid of controversy. Instead, we must be its champion. Stifle controversy and you also stifle the pursuit of knowledge, the generation of ideas, and the discovery of new truths. Take uncomfortable ideas, debate, and conflict out of the university and its fundamental role in society disappears.

There are few, if any, organizations in society that can tolerate the discord that comes along with freedom of inquiry. That is the university’s special role. To preserve it, we must allow our people, and honour others, who pursue ideas that sometimes trouble us, shock our sense of the true and right, and even provoke our anger. The university must give people the space and support they need to think independently without fear of external control or reprisal. Otherwise the constraint on the imagination and the intelligence will slow the speed of change and innovation, if not suppress it altogether. Our students will learn that conformity, rather than creativity and innovation, is the goal of learning and education.

In the early days of the U of A, president Henry Marshall Tory toured Alberta making the case for research. He was often met with scepticism about its value because people feared that it would challenge conventional wisdom. When Tory raised the possibility of developing the oilsands, for example, one community leader responded by saying, “God has been mixing those tars and sands for thousands of years and probably knows more about it than the fellows at the university.”

Tory was undeterred. He instead recruited Dr. Karl Clark, who went on to develop the first successful means of separating and refining heavy oil from the oil sands.

Alberta’s energy industry is what it is today precisely because scientists, thinkers, entrepreneurs, and educators have had the independence and ability to pursue ideas that many thought were absurd, perhaps even disrespectful. Today, researchers continue to ask difficult questions and teach their students how to do the same. The U of A supports research that both strengthens Alberta’s energy industry and examines the environmental evidence, holds the industry to account, and leads to innovations and policy that make it more sustainable.

The U of A is home to many such contradictory and conflicting modes of inquiry, research, and teaching. Each year, that diversity is reflected in the nomination and selection of honorary degree recipients. We recognize that for many Albertans David Suzuki is an unpopular, untimely choice, but his very nomination is an indication that for many others he is a worthy, timely choice. That contradiction and controversy is a sign that the U of A is what it should be: an independent, autonomous institution of higher learning that champions freedom of thought and academic integrity above all else.

David H. Turpin, CM, PhD, LLD, FRSC
President and Vice-chancellor
University of Alberta