The work of a student group aiming to end all military-related research at McGill University was compared to a toilet bowl and controversial U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in internal staff communication, according to emails obtained by CBC News.

For years, Demilitarize McGill has been making access to information requests to the university to find out about ties to private military contractors.

The group publishes its findings on its website and has held several protests on campus.

But in emails obtained by CBC News through an access to information request of our own, it appears some McGill professors take offence at how the group portrays their work.

Of toilet bowls and witch hunts

One of the student group's targets is Prof. Wagdi Habashi, the director of the Computational Fluid Dynamics lab, who also runs his private company, Newmerical Technologies International, out of an office at McGill's mechanical engineering department.

The director of McGill University's Computational Fluid Dynamics Lab, Wagdi Habashi, is an internationally recognized expert in his field. He runs his private firm, Newmerical Technologies International, out of his office at McGill. (CFD Lab/McGill University)

Habashi is internationally renowned for the de-icing mechanisms he has designed for aircraft. But Demilitarize McGill has been critical of his work, arguing it could be applied to military drones.

A colleague of Habashi's wrote to him and other professors in an email with the subject line "Demilitarize McGill and toilets" in March 2013, explaining how he saw a sticker criticizing Habashi's work in the men's bathroom.

"The level of the reporting accuracy and journalistic integrity of this group merits the publication of their work in the shitter," the note concluded, after adding a winking face emoticon.

An undated message from someone who works in the law department's Institute of Air and Space Law also made an unflattering comparison.

"Sen. Joe McCarthy would fling red paint recklessly based on speculation rather than facts," it read.

"If they stay in this mindset with endless accusatory defamation, in time, they will discredit themselves the way Joe McCarthy self-destructed."

"'Ninja-like' garb"

Professors also expressed concern about some of the group's activities on campus.

In February 2014, McGill's dean of engineering, Jim Nicell, wrote to the then-dean of students, André Costopoulos, following an incident involving a group blockading a doorway in an engineering building.

Nobody was hurt, but Nicell said the group tore a phone off its hook in a lab, preventing him from reaching anyone who may have been in there to warn them about the event.

He also said nobody in the group would identify themselves, and they wore masks.

"Their almost 'ninja-like' garb could be perceived as very threatening to some who don't really know their intentions," Nicell wrote, while acknowledging the rights of "individuals to express their concerns about research that is happening at McGill."

A group of Demilitarize McGill activists blocked access to a lab in McGill's Macdonald engineering building in Feb. 2014. An email obtained by CBC News through an access to information request shows the dean of engineering. while acknowledging their right to demonstrate, said the group's "almost 'ninja-like' garb could be perceived as very threatening." (demilitarizemcgill.com)

Remembrance Day protest

Members of Demilitarize McGill also showed up at a Remembrance Day event in 2014, which made some waves among administrative staff.

One wrote to the university's vice-principal of research and international relations in November, stating she had not realized the group would be protesting Remembrance Day.

"I hadn't realized either," Rose Goldstein wrote back. "It discredits them even further."

Still, when the university received a complaint about that protest, it defended the group's democratic rights.

"Those rights include the freedom to say things with which many others may disagree," wrote Michael Di Grappa, the universty's former vice-principal of administration and finance.

'Not terribly democratic'

The university's media relations and communications staff have also had run-ins with Demilitarize McGill.

One media relations employee noted they would have to deal with a demo – "likely Demilitarize McGill folks" – in April 2013, adding the word, "Sighs."

In September 2014, the university's director of internal communications, Doug Sweet, informed some administrative staff that he unsuccessfully tried to attend a Demilitarize McGill meeting.

He reported he was told the event was only for supporters of the group, and he was kicked out.

"James Bond would have been a better choice," he added.

"Not terribly democratic," Costopoulos replied.

​Also by Raffy Boudjikanian: