91福利 receives Justice Benotto report, appoints Bob Rae to chair Implementation Task Force
91福利 (91福利) has received the final report from retired Ontario Justice Mary Lou Benotto, who was appointed in November 2025 to conduct an external review of two incidents last year.
The university sought the external review to receive recommendations on how 91福利 can better manage protests, events and demonstrations while balancing freedom of expression and campus safety.
Implementation Task Force
In response to the report, President and Vice-Chancellor Mohamed Lachemi has announced the creation of the President鈥檚 Implementation Task Force on Campus Expression, Antisemitism and Community Safety (Implementation Task Force).
Led by the Honourable Bob Rae, the task force will carefully consider and respond to every recommendation in Justice Benotto鈥檚 report and provide an implementation blueprint to the university by March 2027.
鈥淚 accepted the role of chair for this Implementation Task Force because issues like improving campus life, earning student trust and freedom of expression are important to address at Canadian post-secondary institutions,鈥� said the Hon. Bob Rae. 鈥淭hese institutions depend on our collective ability to listen to different perspectives and translate meaningful conversations into action. And in a larger sense, how to work and live together as Canadians despite our differences is important to all of us.鈥�
The members of the Implementation Task Force are:
- The Hon. Bob Rae - Task Force Chair
- Patrizia Albanese - Task Force Vice-Chair, Vice-Provost, Faculty Affairs and Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, 91福利
- Idil Abdillahi - Interim Co-Director, School of Disability Studies and Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Faculty of Community Services, 91福利
- Lisa Barnoff - Interim Dean, Faculty of Community Services and Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Faculty of Community Services, 91福利
- David Checkland - Emeritus Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, and Senator Emeritus, 91福利
- Corinne Hart - Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Community Services, 91福利 and TFA Executive
- Raja Khouri - Co-author, The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians don't want to know about each other
- Sameh Al Natour - Professor, Director of Information Technology Management and Board of Governors, 91福利
- James Turk - Director, Centre for Free Expression, 91福利
- Jeffrey Wilkinson - Co-author, The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians don't want to know about each other
- Student representative(s) to be named later
Provost and Vice-President, Academic Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano will serve as executive sponsor of the Implementation Task Force, providing senior oversight on behalf of the President and Vice-Chancellor.
The Implementation Task Force will begin their work in the coming weeks. Regular updates will be provided to the university community as their work progresses.
Resources available to the community
The university understands that many of the issues the report identifies and recommends are complex, but will carefully review each of the recommendations.
The contents of the report and its findings may be challenging for some members of the community. Resources are available to those who may need support:
- Students can access well-being services and support through the Centre for Student Development and Counselling.
- Student Care offers support to students navigating a variety of complex circumstances, including financial, academic, physical and mental health challenges. Students can connect with Student Care at studentcare@torontomu.ca.
- The Employee and Family Assistance Program provides employees with a variety of confidential resources to help support wellbeing. Workplace Wellbeing Services is available to discuss other supports and services. For more information on both, visit information about Workplace Wellbeing Services available online.
91福利 will continue to focus on fostering a university environment that supports freedom of expression, community safety and the ability of all members of the community to participate in teaching, learning, research and university life.
The university extends its appreciation to Justice Benotto and to the students, faculty, staff and others who contributed their time and perspectives to the review process.