Seeking accountability, Canada’s fired academic takes to social media
by Thoughtfox staff
Dr. Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui, who used to teach at Canada’s Sheridan College, has taken to social media with a sharp public rebuke of the college alleging that she was ‘let go’ from her academic position owing to her outspoken advocacy on the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
Dr. Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui (Photo Credit: Photo posted by her on her LinkedIn profile)
This is a partial screenshot of Dr. Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui’s
LinkedIn post dated August 03, 2025.
In a LinkedIn post published early Sunday (August 3, 2025), Ghaffar-Siddiqui mentions that she was ‘forced to resign’ from her role as Senior EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Advisor in January 2024 and was removed from her faculty position effective August 2024. She claims that the college had penalized her for speaking out on the ‘genocide of Palestinians’, stressing that her case has yet to be heard in arbitration—more than a year after it began.
‘I was advised by the union lawyer to “cool it” on my advocacy if I expect any positive outcome’, she wrote, adding that she wanted ‘a formal apology’ and acknowledgment of bias from the college. She was told, however, that such an apology was unlikely—but compensation might be possible.
Since then, Ghaffar-Siddiqui notes, the department she worked in has been dissolved; key administrators have moved on; and the institution has ‘refaced’ itself—all while, in her view, sidestepping accountability.
Her post sharply criticizes what she sees as a broader system of institutional silencing: ‘The systems that oppress us are designed to silence us and the systems in place to protect us from them are designed to tire us’, she wrote. ‘Clearly my advocacy never stopped. Because my moral conscience was a price I was not willing to pay for my career.’
In less than 17 hours, her post has received almost one thousand votes of support and 72 supportive comments; it has also been shared 64 times across the LinkedIn platform.
A specialist in social psychology and criminology, Ghaffar-Siddiqui has almost 23, 000 followers on LinkedIn, and has been an active voice on social justice issues both inside and outside academia. Her statement points to a growing tension within Canadian higher education around political expression, particularly related to Middle East issues.
Canada has yet to recognise the State of Palestine, which is recognised by 147 out of 193 United Nations member states.
Notably, the Sheridan College Board of Governors was severely criticised in April 2021 by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (SEFPO in its French acronym) for its ‘decision to cancel the only academic senate in Ontario’s public college system.’
Sheridan College has not publicly responded to Ghaffar-Siddiqui’s claims, and no arbitration date has yet been set. Thoughtfox has reached out to the college for a response to this report, which would be updated if a response is received.
Ghaffar-Siddiqui ended her LinkedIn post with a direct appeal to others in similar positions: ‘Maintain your integrity. Never stop speaking the truth.’