Editor’s Note: The previous headline read that Andrew Potter resigned from McGill University, when in fact he resigned from the MISC and remains a teacher in the faculty of arts. Global News regrets this error.
Andrew Potter has resigned as director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada (MISC), effective immediately, following a controversial article he wrote in Maclean’s that claims “Quebec is an almost pathologically alienated and low-trust society.”
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“I deeply regret many aspects of the column,” Potter wrote on Facebook.
“Its sloppy use of anecdotes, its tone and the way it comes across as deeply critical of the entire province.”
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The article looks at the events surrounding the recent blizzard that left 300 vehicles stranded overnight on Highway 13, revealing a “social malaise” that he claims is eating away at the foundations of Quebec society.
Earlier this week, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard criticized the article, calling it deplorable and based in prejudice.
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Potter said he did not intend to offend, but acknowledged he received much backlash about the article.
“I am heartbroken that the situation has evolved the way it has.”
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Potter ended his message by saying that, though “this has been the dream job of a lifetime,” he feels the institute will be better off without him as director.
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He will continue to teach as an associate professor in the university’s faculty of arts.
The MISC said it has accepted Potter’s resignation and will not comment.
rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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