A new report has found that Ramesh Thakur, the former director of the Balsillie School of International Affairs, was unjustly fired.

The report, issued by the Canadian Association of University Teachers or CAUT, calls for an apology.

The Balsillie School is a three-way partnership between the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and CIGI, the Centre for International Governance Innovation, which is a private think-tank started by RIM CEO Jim Balsillie.

Thakur, a former United Nations diplomat, says he was let go because he argued a privately-funded think-tank like CIGI shouldn't have much of a say in the school's academic programming.

CAUT director Jim Turk tells CTV News from Edmonton, "There was pressure from CIGI to have more of a voice in academic matters, which is entirely inappropriate, and Professor Thakur stood up for the academic integrity and autonomy of the Balsillie School and of the universities."

In a written statement to CTV, Thakur says he "feels completely vindicated and totally exonerated" by the report, and adds that he "protected academic integrity."

Both universities disagree with the report and Thakur's allegations.

Ken Coates is the dean of the University of Waterloo's Faculty of Arts. He says "CIGI does not interfere, there are appropriate places there where CIGI is a partner and a supporter of us in this enterprise, but the idea of interference is not correct."

Wilfrid Laurier University Academic Vice-President Deborah MacLatchy adds "I can emphatically state that there was no role of CIGI or Mr. Balsillie in academic decisions at the universities."

CIGI officials also say the report is unfounded, and that Thakur was dismissed because he did not meet the latest performance review.

Fred Kuntz, director of communications at CIGI says it came down to "organizational matters involving a budget, getting a Web site, having meetings around governance, meetings with staff, communications issues that were not being addressed," which prompted the performance review that led to the dismissal decision by the universities.

Thakur, who is currently a professor at the University of Waterloo, will be leaving shortly to take on a role at the Australian National University in Canberra.