UofT Funding and Grants
In his chapter, "Development of a Centre of Criminology," Edwards spoke about the Centre's early struggles to obtain necessary funding, "the burden ... of securing the basic necessities of life to support the Centre's research programme rested with the director." While the University of Toronto guaranteed funding for the Centre’s facility as well as Professor Edwards and his assistant’s salaries, all supplementary funds would need to be found elsewhere. In 1971 with the pressure of funding the upcoming graduate teaching programme, Professor Edwards became persistent in his mission to keep the Centre for Criminology alive. The Centre obtained long-term funding from foundations, such as the Ford Foundation, the Donner Canadian Foundation and the Laidlaw and Atkinson Foundations to continue their research, as well as funds from the federal and provincial governments. This notably included the Department of Justice, the Department of the Solicitor General, the Law Reform Commission of Canada, the Solicitor General and Correctional Services in the form of funding for specific research projects as well as annual sustaining grants.
By 1972, The Centre for Criminology had an annual budget of $400,000, of which $252,000 came in the form of sustaining grants, including $65,000 from the Government of Ontario. That same year, the research topics of faculty and student research soon became a contested topic that threatened the continuous research grants and funding coming from the provincial government.
The problem arose when the provincial government modified the funding agreements to include that they must be given the final say on whether the criminology research could be published. The government believed it was their responsibility to decide which research findings were suitable and could be made available to the public. This of course, was unacceptable to both John Edwards and representatives of the University who insisted upon the University’s right to complete freedom of research and publication.
Amidst this controversy with the provincial government, George Kerr, the Provincial Secretary for Justice, played a prominent role. He repeatedly made comments to the media, belittling the significance of the Centre's research and disregarding the efforts of its approximately 25 researchers at that time.
In response to the slander from Mr. Kerr, Professor John Edwards made the decision to publicize the grant dispute, with the intentions of attracting public attention and highlighting the Centre’s constraints in procuring valuable research with the loss of the provincial grant.
To view the archives and press coverage surrounding the controversial funding matter, please skim through the images below.
