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'Political correctness run amok' Male student offered cash settlement after expulsion from Aurora social work program for 'hostile' behaviourChris Dicesare Northern News Services Published Monday, October 10, 2011
Mark Bogan filed a complaint against Aurora College in February 2009 with the NWT Human Rights Commission, alleging he was the victim of "political correctness run amok" after getting into trouble over his views on family courts in an all-female classroom. He said staff compared him to Marc Lepine, the man who killed 14 women in a shooting massacre directed at female students at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989. He said he thinks the roots of the campaign to expel him arose from essays he wrote, "that men don't get a fair shake in society." He added that, to his knowledge, he was the only male student in the social work program. Over the course of his first year in the program, Bogan said he was advised by staff members to diversify his research and written work. Bogan said he felt "victimized and intimidated" by the treatment he received from Aurora College staff and he felt that "disciplinary action was designed to silence his opinions." "In the spring of (2009) I was expelled from Aurora," said Bogan. "Aurora cited hostile and aggressive behaviour and complaints from students." Bogan made headlines in the summer of 2008 after scaling the wall of NDP leader Jack Layton's constituency office in downtown Toronto while dressed as "Plywood Man" - a costume he's worn many times during protests in Yellowknife. He was also convicted of two counts of mischief in 2006 after dumping hundreds of live crickets at the Yellowknife courthouse and the Western Arctic MP's office. Most recently, Bogan ran against Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley in last week's territorial election, garnering 79 votes to 624 for Bromley. Bogan, a father of two children estranged to him almost since their birth, is a member of a group called Dads North, which is closely aligned to the international organization Fathers 4 Justice, a group known for wearing comic book hero costumes while championing the rights of fathers in child custody cases. The settlement agreement offered to him by the human rights commission orders Aurora College to pay him $12,000 - less $234.14 in outstanding arrears to the school - for "injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect." The settlement also gives him 14 days to re-apply for re-admission to Aurora College upon agreement by both parties. Included in the settlement, however, is a confidentiality clause ordering the parties not to disclose any of its terms. The settlement has not been signed. "I was opposed to the clause for confidentiality," said Bogan. "My barrister advised me that if I dispute the clause it would push the matter to trial and that was something I couldn't afford financially." Nonetheless, he said it's important that people know about his plight. "We all have the right to be heard," said Bogan. "If Aurora chooses to take action against me for speaking out about this injustice it demonstrates the amount of oppression stemming from our government." He said he hopes that "whoever becomes the next education minister of the NWT should issue a statement in the legislature - a personal guarantee - that this will never happen again." He said he would like to continue his education in social work and has called Aurora to see if he can be re-instated into the program. Bogan said if he does get back into school he doesn't fear any retribution in light of the nearly three-year ordeal he has been embroiled in "because this (situation) will probably never happen again." Aurora College president Sarah Wright Cardinal could not be reached for comment.
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