Cash-Strapped Halifax University Hires Advisory Firm for Snitch Line

Commentary Anonymous complaint lines place authorities in between people who live or work together, and this makes honest and collegial relations dangerous and difficult. Such mechanisms create institutional cultures in which people are guarded, insincere, and fearful. They also encourage people to feign vulnerability and neediness. For all of those reasons, an institution should consider setting up an anonymous complaint line only when it is rife with corruption and malfeasance such that something’s got to be done quickly to stop the rot. I don’t think that’s the situation at Saint Mary’s University. Our middle-sized Halifax institution hasn’t made headlines for rampant pilfering, fraudulent research, or abuse of students....