My personal career is significantly defined by the feminist philosophy classes that I took as an undergraduate and graduate student. That education taught me essential critiques about scientific objectivity and the standpoints of knowledge creators, offered broader critical thinking skills, and revealed how power structures have historically been architected to silence or appropriate women’s contributions to Western scientific and political development. To this day those classes inform all of the personal and professional activities in which I am involved.

It is with this explicitly in mind that I am horrified by the hateful attack that recently took place at the University of Waterloo, where junior faculty and students alike were violently assaulted because they cared about learning about gender and philosophy. This could have been myself or many of my friends or supervising faculty in years past.

CSIS has identified non-religious extremism as one of the most significant threats to Canada’s national security. And faculty and students at the University of Waterloo have experienced this first-hand after being attacked and made to experience fear for simply wanting to learn about the relationship between gender and the formation of power, knowledge, or socially constructed reality.

Misogyny, oppression, and racism are realities in Canada, and Canadians need to talk more openly and frequently about it. These cannot be fixed overnight but, instead, are challenges that require sustained and often inglorious work to correct. At its core, this work demands critically assessing institutions’ and organizations’ pasts, recognizing and righting historical wrongs, and adjusting power and social structures to reflect a more just and fair present and future.

I would encourage our leaders to take these threats and issues seriously, and to continue to meaningfully work to combat the hateful underlying ideology that lies behind these violent and malevolent actions. Some leaders in politics, workplaces, and social groups are clearly acting to address these issues, but they must be joined by all leaders at every level of society. Doing anything else betrays all who live in Canada while exhibiting a failure of leadership, and ceding the moral gravitas that is required to lead our businesses, institutions, agencies, and communities.