Two professors at the University of Ottawa who are longtime critics of the Conservative government say political opponents are trying to intimidate them by making requests for personal information from the university, reports the Toronto Star.

The university has told Errol Mendes and Amil Attaran, a professor and an associate professor, respectively, in the faculty of law, that it has received two unusually large open-records requests for details about the two professors’ employment, salaries, expenses, and teaching.

The professors told the newspaper they believed the requests were part of an academic witch hunt by the Conservative Party to quiet critics. A spokesman for the party said it had not made the requests.

Under Ontario law, open-records requests can be made anonymously and apply to public universities. However, Mr. Mendes said the university did not plan to release most of the requested information because it is personal and exempt from the open-records law.