Faculty association questions suspension of Lethbridge professor accused of anti-Semitism

A southern Alberta faculty association is questioning the suspension of a longtime professor alleged to be promoting conspiracy theories and denying the Holocaust.

Andrea Amelinckx, president of the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association, said the school's suspension without pay of Anthony Hall, a tenured professor, may have been premature.

"The president's [Michael Mahon] action violates provincial law and contravenes the university's contract with its faculty, which provides a process for investigating complaints, such as those alleged against professor Hall, in a fair, speedy, and thorough fashion," Amelinckx said in a statement Tuesday.

• Lethbridge professor accused of anti-Semitism suspended
• Professor accused of anti-Semitism alleges smear campaign as school looks to terminate
• B'naiBrith wants Prof. Anthony Hall fired for allegedly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories

Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada called for Hall's firing last month after an anti-Semitic post was made by a third party to Hall's Facebook account.

"At first we said we would be happy with him no longer espousing the positions he holds publicly. [But] at this point, we were hoping the university would remove him from his position," said Ryan Bellerose of B'nai Brith at the time.

Earlier this month, Hall told CBC Radio's Calgary Eyeopener he was the victim of a smear campaign.

"Right now, it's on my shoulders to defend the University of Lethbridge and to defend for all the faculty in Canada, the principle of academic freedom, because that responsibility has been abandoned by the administration at my university and it's been left for me and it's appropriate that I do so," Hall said last Tuesday.

Call for quick action

University officials announced the following day the school was suspending Hall without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation into possible violations of the Human Rights Act.

Amelinckx is calling for quick action on the part of the school.

"We call on the board of governors of the University of Lethbridge to ensure that the allegations that have been made against professor Hall are investigated with the speed and thoroughness they deserve using the legal and contractual procedures already in place in the Post-Secondary Learning Act and the contract with the faculty association," she said.

Hall co-hosts a YouTube show called "False Flag Weekly News," which allegedly promotes the notion of a Zionist conspiracy to foster hatred of Muslims through "false flag" terror events, beginning with the Sept. 11 attacks.

He also runs his own news website.