Open this photo in gallery: Pedestrians walk past the Widener Library at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., on April 15.Charles Krupa/The Canadian Press Hundreds of professors are asking Canadian federal party leaders to provide a safe sanctuary for “academic refugees” and safeguard freedoms, as American universities face mounting pressure from the United States government. An open letter signed by more than 500 faculty members calls President Donald Trump’s attacks on U.S. schools a “crisis” that also affects Canadian education, research and funding. The authors say the first priority for the next government should be to fix what they describe as chronic underfunding in the higher education system. Jesse Greener, a chemistry professor at Laval University, says revitalizing Canadian universities is essential in the face of “rising anti-intellectualism” south of the border. Greener says funding is needed to address widespread problems, including program cuts, insolvency and the deferral of important maintenance. Signatories say that a well-funded system in Canada should be a safe haven for students and professors fleeing the U.S. They say whichever party wins next week’s federal election should also move to double faculty positions, remove caps on foreign student immigration, and ensure the protection of academic freedoms and the right to protest without fear of prosecution.