University of Toronto Professor Quits Over Now Suspended Vaccine Mandate, Forgoes Canada

People line up outside the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus on May 6, 2021. Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press

A tenured professor at the University of Toronto has resigned his post on Dec. 31 over the institution’s currently suspended mandatory vaccination policy, saying that such measures to compel injections or face termination “go against my beliefs.”

Alexander Andrée, professor of Latin and Medieval Studies, addressed a letter to students and colleagues on Dec. 29 which explains why he said he was compelled to “leave a tenured position at one of the world’s foremost universities.”

Andrée recounted that while on leave to conduct research in his home country of Sweden in 2021, he received letters from the university asking for proof of COVID-19 vaccination or face forced leave or termination.

“Apparently, tenure was worth noting in face of these mandates,” he wrote.

Andrée’s arguments centre around the theme of bodily autonomy and he also links it to the question of academic freedom, questioning why only one perspective has been accepted as the truth.

This is “unscientific and unworthy of a University that claims to promote intellectual freedom,” he wrote.

Andrée also remarked that it made little sense for the measure to apply to him since he was on leave thousands of kilometres away, saying it denotes the university’s desire for “total compliance.”

The professor is critical of the fact that the termination threats he received have not been retracted and that the university has only “paused” the mandates.

The overall take away from Andrée’s letter is that he cannot work for the institution in good conscience even if the vaccination policy is put on hold.

The University of Toronto (UofT) revoked its vaccine mandate on May 1, 2022, but the school’s website says that “vaccination requirements may be reinstated with little notice, which could result in de-enrolment” for unvaccinated students.

The university, which faced a human rights complaint over the vaccine requirement policy, still recommends all members of its community receive vaccination boosters and it made it a requirement for students living in residence.

It says that “Vaccination is the most important way that individuals can protect themselves against COVID-19.”

A spokesperson said the university “cannot discuss or comment on individual employment matters” for privacy and confidentiality reasons.

Changed Perception

Reached by email, Andrée told The Epoch Times that this experience has changed his perception of Canada.

He saw Canadian society go from displaying an “almost whimsical freedom” to one going for “complete control.”

“It is my conviction that when it comes to things like medical treatments, everyone has to make his or her own choices,” he said.

“Forcing medical products on people on pains of termination is, to my mind, unthinkable, and will inevitably lead to the slippery slope to dictatorship.”

The former professor has now permanently relocated to Sweden and works as the director of research at the Museum of the Middle Ages in Stockholm.

When asked to comment about the singular path that Sweden charted to deal with COVID-19, Andrée did not heap praise on his native country.

“From steering a very sensible course at first, Sweden tried for a short while vaccine passports, to access larger public events, not to keep your job. Yet it was disgraceful and created much discontent,” he said.

Sweden didn’t follow other Western countries in locking down and closing schools and was criticized for it, but a commission examining the stance said it had been in large part correct.

While making arguments about bodily autonomy and academic freedom, Andrée also expressed his doubts about the COVID-19 injections in his letter, which he remarked were admittedly never tested to prevent transmission.

The university’s premise for imposing them was hence never valid, he says.

“It doesn’t matter that there never was any basis for this ‘policy.’ It appears that it was always the question of a test of obedience to authority,” he wrote.

“Well, I failed the test and will continue to do so for as long as I live. Therefore, U of T is no place for me anymore.”

Other Canadian professors have been affected by the mandates, such as ethicist Julie Ponesse who was fired from Huron College at the University of Western Ontario for not complying.

Andrée says he’s received “quite surprising” reactions to his farewell letter, “Ranging from colleagues who secretly deplore the mandates to those have done the same thing as I and left the University and Canada.”