Fired Quebec scientist blew the whistle on pesticide lobby influence
Quebec government scientist Louis Robert was fired from his job after a 32-year career for exposing industry influence in public research on pesticides. Image courtesy Radio-Canada.ca
By Carl Meyer
In May 2009, Quebec government scientist Louis Robert was 15 minutes away from entering a conference room to give a lecture about phosphorus when he got a phone call from his boss ordering him to call it off.
His boss threatened to move Robert into another office to perform administrative tasks if he dared to proceed with the lecture.
A year earlier, a senior public servant summoned Robert to a meeting at a restaurant with his boss, in which the scientist was told to cancel an on-camera appearance with journalists to talk about the management of fertilizers.
The interview was scheduled to be four days away, but it was cancelled and the journalists were then forced to send their questions to the ministry to proceed with their reporting.
Both incidents were recounted in an email sent to National Observer by Robert's public sector union.
Robert was previously employed at Quebec's Agriculture Department for three decades.
All in all, the scientist was personally ordered to cancel these types of appearances "five to six" other times over the past few years, according to his union.
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