Canadian profs resist mandatory retirement
From the CBC.ca:
Professors at the University of Prince Edward Island say it’s time forthe school to follow the province’s Human Rights Act and remove a ruleforcing retirement at age 65.Under provincial legislation it’s illegal to discriminate on the basisof age. However, after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling a decade agothe university adopted mandatory retirement. That decision supportedmandatory retirement at a university in Alberta. The court said sinceprofessors have tenure — which provides some extra job security —forcing them to leave at 65 was justified.
Peggy Leahey, director of human resources with UPEI, said it is one wayto ensure new people are added to the faculty. “It was a reasonable andjustifiable circumstance to make an exception to that because of theneed to renew people and ideas and generate more learning within thecampus communities.”
“It’s really inherently discriminatory to make a general statement thatone cannot continue to be productive and contributory to the universitysimply because they reached the age of 65,” counters Wayne Peters ofthe Faculty Association at UPEI. Professors at the University of Prince Edward Island say it’s time forthe school to follow the province’s Human Rights Act and remove a ruleforcing retirement at age 65.Under provincial legislation it’s illegal to discriminate on the basisof age. However, after a Supreme Court of Canada ruling a decade agothe university adopted mandatory retirement. That decision supportedmandatory retirement at a university in Alberta. The court said sinceprofessors have tenure — which provides some extra job security —forcing them to leave at 65 was justified.Peggy Leahey, director of human resources with UPEI, said it is one wayto ensure new people are added to the faculty. “It was a reasonable andjustifiable circumstance to make an exception to that because of theneed to renew people and ideas and generate more learning within thecampus communities.”The association is working to have the retirement clause removed fromits next contract.