Frances Widdowson is a Canadian political scientist. She was an associate professor in the department of economics, justice and policy studies at Mount Royal University from 2008 to 2021. She was fired from the university in December 2021 after an investigation into claims of harassment by Widdowson against a fellow faculty member were not substantiated. In July 2024, an arbitrator found that the firing was not justified.
Widdowson received an Honours BA and MA in political science from the University of Victoria and a PhD in political science from York University. [1]
Widdowson worked as a policy analyst for the government of the Northwest Territories. [2] While she worked in Yellowknife, she became interested in researching Canada's Aboriginal policy, directing her attention towards what she calls the "Aboriginal industry," which includes non-Indigenous lawyers and consultants acting as intermediaries between the government and Indigenous communities. She believes this industry prioritizes compensation and funding discussions over the quality of services provided and that they engage in lengthy legal battles, often lasting decades, during which government personnel change and the needs of the Indigenous communities are overlooked, while the intermediaries profit significantly from the settlements. [3] [4]
Widdowson joined the faculty of Mount Royal University in 2008. She received tenure in 2011. [5]
In 2020, Widdowson and a number of her colleagues took part in a "Twitter War". This led to filings of a series of official complaints about harassment and bullying by Widdowson and also her colleagues. Several investigations determined that Widdowson had made some tweets which constituted harassment and that some of the complaints by Widdowson against her colleagues were substantiated. [5]
In July 2021, Widdowson filed a complaint against a colleague regarding his tweets. An investigation concluded in November 2021 that the tweets did not amount to harassment and deemed Widdowson's complaint as "malicious, frivolous, vexatious, and made in bad faith." Widdowson was fired in December 2021. [5]
In January 2023, the University of Lethbridge canceled a guest lecture by Widdowson titled “How Does Woke-ism Threaten Academic Freedom?” after complaints by students and faculty at the university. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] She returned to the town to give her lecture at the Lethbridge Public Library. [11]
In July 2023, Widdowson sued the University of Lethbridge for canceling her scheduled lecture. The lawsuit was filed by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. [12]
In July 2024, an arbitrator ruled that Mount Royal University's firing of Widdowson was disproportionate to her actions. [5]
Currently, she is working a manuscript entitled The Woke Academy: How Advocacy Studies Murder Academic Disciplines and Effective Policy Development. [13]
Widdowson's book Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry was short-listed for the 2008 Donner Prize. [14]
Widdowson is married to Albert Howard. [15]