John Ivison: Disturbing new details about why TMU redacted the report into its institutional campus antisemitism

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The published report includes Benotto’s statement that TMU must be prepared to enforce its codes of conduct consistently, but the published version redacts her finding that those codes were broken repeatedly.

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In a statement responding to National Post’s questions about the erasure, TMU said the information was redacted on the advice of legal counsel to “protect the integrity and confidentiality of ongoing proceedings.”

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“Your analysis fundamentally misinterprets the facts, leading to conclusions that are demonstrably incorrect,” the statement said. “The measures are necessary to ensure that established processes can proceed fairly and appropriately, without compromising the rights of those involved … We will not compromise the integrity of ongoing proceedings by disclosing information that must remain confidential.”

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Note, the university is not saying the facts are wrong — and that the Benotto report did not find that the university’s codes of conduct were breached — it is saying I have somehow misinterpreted them, leading to conclusions that are incorrect.

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Conveniently for the administration, it is not saying where the errors in my reasoning are to be found.

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But a detailed analysis of the published review makes it difficult to reach any other conclusion than the one that TMU is in extreme damage-limitation mode.

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The beauty of Benotto’s report is its simplicity. It concludes that the problem could be solved by establishing clear behavioural expectations and enforcing them consistently and transparently.

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It does not need another six-month investigation to find out what happened or what should be done — even with the redactions.

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Across its 190 pages, Benotto delves into incidents that took place in September and November 2025.

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The September event was the disruption by the Students for Justice in Palestine of a Democracy Forum panel discussion on artificial intelligence. The activists shouted at attendees, calling them “war criminals,” “baby killers” and “murderers.” The event was aborted and a number of people were arrested, amid accusations of “brutalization” by the student protesters.

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The November incident was an off-campus event sponsored by Students Supporting Israel that was broken up by SJP protesters, yelling accusations of “Zionist murderers.” This event was also cancelled; people were hospitalized and several students were arrested.

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Benotto discovered a deeply polarized campus environment, shaped by the terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023.

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She concluded that the campus climate was deteriorating and similar events were likely to re-occur without decisive institutional action. Presumably, she didn’t mean another six-month review.

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TMU should remain a place where even unpopular and controversial ideas must be expressed and challenged.

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“(But) freedom of speech is not an unlimited right,” she said. Conduct that interferes with the ability of others to speak or participate in lawful university activities falls outside its protection.

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TMU apparently didn’t want to hear those findings, such is the institutional rot that has set in under its current president.

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The review found that certain professors no longer admitted where they worked because the university is perceived as hostile to the Jewish community. One tenured professor said that he would tell anyone in the Jewish community not to have their children apply to TMU because they’d be at risk of harassment, mistreatment, bullying or assault.