It’s a Feature, Not a Bug

The Libranos 22 Comments

The Food Professor-  Academic here.

At first, I dismissed the plagiarism accusation against Mark Carney as Conservatives just digging up dirt — I didn’t see the point of it after 30 years. But I’m a little more concerned about it today. Here’s why.

First of all, plagiarism is a serious issue in academia, and unfortunately, it’s sometimes normalized. When I was at the University of Guelph, I was responsible for academic misconduct cases for about two years. During that time, the number of cases rose from about 10 a year to around 140 — not because students suddenly became less honest, but because we, as a College, simply decided to start clamping down. It is similar elsewhere, not just at Guelph.

What I learned is that most people who commit academic misconduct are typically repeat offenders.

I’ve also managed a PhD program myself and have supervised many doctoral students at several universities over the last 25 years. With that background, I can say with some confidence that when a thesis falls short — especially at the doctoral level — responsibility doesn’t lie solely with the student. Supervisors, examiners, and the program itself are all accountable. In Carney’s case, I did look at the thesis. Yes, it fits the definition of plagiarism — but it reads more like sloppy work than deliberate cheating. Still, the fact that it passed reflects poorly on the program. That’s likely why his supervisor is now defending the thesis — because she shares responsibility.

What really got me thinking, though, is the reaction to the accusation. Why is the Liberal Party flooding social media with “community notes” defending him? Carney has an impeccable CV and could have simply dismissed the accusation, as I did initially. But now I’m wondering — is this part of a pattern?

We’ve seen behavior like this before: the appropriation of Conservative platforms, the use of their campaign slogans, even claiming financial crisis management credit from Jim Flaherty. And let’s not forget that other Liberals — including former PM Trudeau and Mélanie Joly — have faced plagiarism accusations as well. There were few consequences then, but the pattern is troubling.

And now, this story is on the front page of the largest daily newspaper in the UK. It’s not a good look.

In essence, Carney’s thesis is sloppy and does merit a response — primarily from the University of Oxford, but also from Carney himself. He may need to explain, if only to reassure the public. After all, he is our Prime Minister.

22 Replies to “It’s a Feature, Not a Bug”

  1. At this point Carney is not in actuality the Prime Minister since he does not hold a seat in the House. He is in essence only the leader of the Liberal party. Until he is elected in a riding in Canada and takes a seat in the Commons he is only a place-holder. When you negate the act of plagiarism within the halls of academia as has been done then the ‘appointment’ of a Prime Minister without the certifying election is only a step away from dictatorship.

  3. Corruption. Widespread, deep rooted, and pernicious, it is destroying the religious and scholarly institutions built by the Victorians.

    Those noble institutions themselves were the result of an earlier, even more disgusting wave of corruption that infested Western civilization.

    New and worthwhile efforts will arise to depose these that are now corrupt. Time to roll up our sleeves to build once more.

    1. Damn! I was just starting to get serious about getting corrupt. Ah well. I don’t like these long sleeves anyway.

  4. It makes me mad. I worked hard on my thesis to ensure it was credible and an honest effort. These guys seem to always be the anointed ones all the while working off of their underlings and getting all the credit – at all levels.

    1. I noticed that, too. My first master’s supervisor saw his grad students as cheap labour. He stretched out the time to work on one’s degree to get as much out of them as possible and, if one actually managed it, it was by accident.

      He had a foreign Ph. D. student who spent several years in finishing his thesis but was torpedoed in the defence. Back then, one had only the one chance to succeed, so the poor guy was left with a second master’s degree.

      He apparently gave it another chance and, from what I gathered, he finally succeeded. I think part of the reason was that he came from a culture where he would have lost face had he returned to his homeland empty-handed. But, still, 12 years to get a doctorate?

      That same supervisor apparently took some data acquired by one of his Ph. D. students and published it under his own name and, from what I gathered, the student never received credit. That led to a dispute between the two and it nearly ended in a lawsuit.

      Incidents like that destroyed my belief in the academic system.

    2. “I worked hard on my thesis to ensure it was credible and an honest effort”

      Me too. All six of them. I tell ya, it was a real struggle to get ’em aĺl done in that 6-month time frame while convalescing from the multiple mortal wounds I received in Afghanistan. 😉

  5. Carney is claiming credit for saving Canada during the 2008 financial crisis, some reporter should ask him what he did differently to protect Canada that other central bankers were doing.

    If the 10 paragraphs of Carney Copying are identifiable, has any reporter asked the people he copied from how they feel about him taking their work as his own?

    1. It is not entirely surprising that there is software out there to detect and identify plagiarism.. Basically a very specific search engine that looks for text strings that match known texts. It would be a useful task for AI, assuming anyone really wanted to seriously reduce the “rorting”.

      Whatever happened to “paraphrasing” and oblique referencing? Dumbed down to oblivion by galloping cretinism in the “education” system? A thesis that pulls together a range of the works of others to produce further knowledge is common; “seeing the trees in the woods”, as it were.

      Sometimes, though, PhD can stand for “Piled higher and Deeper”.

      I barely made it out of high school, so I am unlikely to do anything so intellectually rigorous, unlike my stalwart wife, who knocked over a BSc and MSc that rolled into a PhD in one continuous surge ; Analytical Chemistry focusing on instrumentation techniques and their applications in analyzing tissue samples.. An interesting read, and she obviously did OK during the “inquisition” sessions , before being awarded the Parchment and doing a quick cross-stage stroll in a special “gown” and floppy hat cheered on by her young offspring and myself.

  7. I read ahhh Dokktor Jill Biden’s PhD thesis. Which immediately and forever soured me on the validity of most PhD programs. I literally would have been given a C- for writing such common drivel in a High School term paper. But the public schools were much much better in the 70’s. They’ve degenerated beyond all reason.

    1. She did not have a Ph.D.She had the Education “doctorate”. Excerpts I have seen from her “thesis” are pretty pathetic.

  8. Carney is Trudeau and Guiltbeaut on steroids. I am 40 pages into his “values” book. Man,it’s tough to read . I have little doubt the quotes That I was challenged to check the accuracy of are there ,I just don’t know if I can stand to read far enough to find them. It really is an eye opener . People really need to read some of it. And when I say tough to read I mean welcome to Marxism.

  9. when l went back part time alternating between auditing and credit status papwrs were screened for matches in the database. one chance to submit an official version.
    time stamped. one of my 1st papers was submitted near end of class l didnt know the procedure ran around campus, found a lab the attendees walked me thru l submitted the log entry at end of the lecture. close call. late cost big time.
    a green light got yours added.

  10. Justin gets a pass on blackface and sexual assault, and Carney will get one on plagiarism.
    Why would it be different?

    1. Exactly. The bar is so low now the LPC would only need to worry about someone perhaps brazen enough to commit acts of public indecency in front of kindergarteners….. Oh wait, they do that already with drag queens. We know blackface is acceptable. How about sex with animals? Maybe. Remember, they only have to pass the acceptability standards of the mindless mushy middle who determine election outcomes. Plagiarism, what’s that? “He ran a central Bank, he must be smart enough to make all of my adult decisions for me.”

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