Subhead:Trent faculty union uses taxpayer-backed dues to import Palestinian speakers — while pro-Israel voices are erased from campus.# YouTube-embed:1wioA1W9kFQ Speakers from Palestine are being brought into Ontario classrooms via Zoom to lecture students — paid directly from union dues deducted from publicly funded professor salaries — without meaningful efforts to fact-check viewpoints or ensure balance in a place that is meant to be dedicated to learning facts. Professors at Trent University are paid primarily from Ontario taxpayer grants and tuition fees. Upon hiring, they are automatically enrolled in the Trent University Faculty Association (TUFA), with union dues deducted straight from their paycheques. While an “opt-out” exists, it only redirects the money to charity — you cannot simply stop paying. Thus, public sector funds support this faculty association regardless of individual professors’ agreement. TUFA has gone all-in on one side of the Israel-Palestine conflict. In June 2024, they passed a “Prevent Scholasticide in Palestine” motion. An original petition drew around 60 faculty signatories — mostly from Sociology, Gender & Women’s Studies, International Development, and Environmental Studies. The motion then passed at a special meeting with a two-thirds majority among the 120–150 attendees present. The motion strongly criticizes Israel for defending itself against the largest terrorist attack it has ever experienced (October 7, 2023), demands an immediate ceasefire, full divestment from and boycott of anything tied to Israeli military/defence/security/intelligence/tech sectors, and establishes a committee to sever every possible institutional link.