Overseas briefing - Canada - Academics attack 'fake' university

A private university that falsely claimed to have a United Nations mandate should be stripped of its status, say Canadian academics. The World Trade University (WTU) in British Columbia (BC) was granted degree-awarding powers three years ago but has yet to open and has been slammed as a "failed experiment" by a group representing local academics. Robert Clift, director of the BC branch of the Confederation of University Faculty Associations, told the National Post that "something smells" at the WTU. The university's founder has been accused of making misleading statements, including an assertion that he had been nominated for a knighthood. He also claimed - wrongly - that the institution was a project of the UN and the World Trade Organisation.