Brandon professor charged for impaired driving

John Blaikie, a Brandon University English professor, was charged with impaired driving after returning to Manitoba from a conference at the University of Regina with three students in the car on Jan. 19. The Quill student newspaper reports he was placed on administrative leave.

Students in his classes said they were left without a teacher or an explanation last week.

RCMP told the Brandon Sun that the “vehicle was being operated at a high rate of speed” before they pulled it over and that the charges followed a breathalyzer test.

University president Deborah Poff said Wednesday morning that she would, “not discuss personal matters with the media and the courses are being covered by other instructors.”

Blaikie told The Quill in 2012 that he believed students across Canada should join the Quebec anti-tuition strikes and stop attending classes. “It’s going to take a year out of your life if you do it, maybe only about six months. But what would happen if every university student in the country decided to go on strike? We don’t pay any more tuition. And we get all of these administrators and professors and the unions—what happens when they don’t have anything to do?”

He also told The Quill he was, “already past retirement age,” and “double-dipping.”