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Professor’s posts found not sexual The purpose of posts by professor Peter Collins were determined by the university to be misconstrued ALICIA BOATTO NEWS EDITOR Allegations made against University of Toronto’s psychiatry professor Peter Collins’ online posts resulted in the university asking him to be more mindful of his social media content. According to Collins, the intended context of the posts was misconstrued. “As with all personnel matters the university does not discuss the particulars of individual cases. We are aware of the situation and we have dealt with this matter through the appropriate channels,” stated U of T’s vice-provost academic programs, Siobhan Nelson, in an email to The Medium. Brought to the attention of The Medium by Danny Tuff, victim of sexual abuse, a series of Facebook posts were made by Collins detailing references to suicide, molestation, and sedating individuals. However, in an interview with The Medium, Collins stated that he has often used the posts referenced in classes he teaches. One post featured Winnie the Pooh leading Piglet into the woods with no pants was used to
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Tuff stated he was concerned if a patient of Collins came across the posts. demonstrate that majority of abductions are committed by someone the victim knows, according to Collins. “Some of those things [Tuff] is complaining about I will show in my PowerPoint presentations to demonstrate a point in my lectures,” Collins
explained. A post alleged by Tuff to have mocked a suicidal individual was a photo of Collins bringing a pizza to a man about to jump off a bridge and Collins was called by the police to talk the man to safety successfully.
Another post featured an image of a nurse holding a syringe with the caption “You can’t sedate stupid.” Collins defended the post saying that “Stupid is not a psychiatric diagnosis or a medical condition.” The professor stated that he has been told by
the chair of psychiatry to be more mindful of his online posts and acknowledged he’d be careful about the posts he will be making in the future. “As far as I was concerned, my Facebook page was not publicly accessible, but lesson learned,” he stated. Tuff claimed his main concern with the posts was that if any patients of Collins or people that he’s helped have seen the posts, they may lose their ability to trust others. Collins works as an assistant professor at U of T and as a forensic consultant for police cases and with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Collins and Tuff met back in 2013 when the RCMP called Collins to consult on a police case in Newfoundland, where Tuff claimed to have valuable information and witnessed evidence, but Collins and the RCMP concluded this to be inconclusive and that Tuff ’s testimony was not substantial. The interaction resulted in Tuff allging that Collins unfairly assessed him and both Collins and the RCMP discredited him. Collins continued on page 2
Kathleen Wynne speaks at Hart House Wynne addressed the importance of the #MeToo movement, possibilities of electoral reform, and free tuition MENNA ELNAKA MANAGING EDITOR
The Hart House Debates and Dialogues Committee hosted Ontario’s premier Kathleen Wynne on March 1st, who addressed issues like the #MeToo campaign, the tuition fees of post-secondary education, and the electoral system. The committee’s chair Aceel Hawa moderated the discussion with the premier. Asking how to balance between believing the victims of any form of harassment, like the #MeToo campaign, while ensuring fairness toward the cases, Wynne stated that they first have to believe the people coming forward, then start a process to validate the claims. “It’s a very hard thing to do. It’s a very hard thing to do to come forward and to talk about something that you’ve been carrying for a very long time,” the premier said. “And
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Wynne emphasized the importance of still conducting investigation in the #MeToo movement. so, I think that we have to default to believing people when they come forward and they share experience. But then we have to have a way to verify, to validate that experience.”
The premier also cited some challenges facing the sensitive stories of victims, including when and when not to become public, asking who knows what exactly, and then how
to deal with the issue once it’s public. “And I think that’s where, as a society, we’ve gotten—there’s been some confusion,” she explained.
“But I honestly believe the principle has to be that we believe people who come forward, and then immediately have a process followed in order to validate and respect the survivor and figure out what the mediation is.” Another issue pointed out by Hawa was the university administrators claiming to raise fees because they’re not getting enough funding. The government responded to them initially by saying the issue is in the bureaucratic growth and inflammation. Wynne stated that the government’s goal is to have as many students as possible enrolling in a post-secondary education. According to Wynne, there will be constant debate about what the government is capable of providing in terms of support and funding, as well as how funding formulas should flow. Wynne continued on page 3