The Quebec Liberals are demanding an investigation into last week's firing of a whistleblower in the province's agricultural ministry who had gone to the media with concerns over private interference in research of pesticides.
On Friday Liberal MNA Gaetan Barrette said an independent investigation is needed to know what really happened in the firing of agranomist Louis Robert.
Robert, an expert in the grain sector, was fired on Jan. 24 for transmitting a confidential document to a journalist and for violating confidentiality obligations. Robert had expressed concerns that private pesticide companies were interfering in the release of public research results into the use of the chemicals.
On Thursday, Quebec Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne defended his decision to fire a ministry employee who blew the whistle on the pesticide industry. He initially refused to comment when asked if industry officials had asked for Robert’s firing, but eventually said he had not acted under pressure and the decision was reached after an independent investigation into Robert’s actions.
Lamontagne acknowledged that the case might have a chilling effect on other potential whistleblowers who may think twice before coming forward with damaging information.
“It might, but the whole thing is not because somebody wanted to talk about pesticides or another topic,” he said.
While Quebec does have a law defending whistleblowers, Lamontagne has said the law was not applicable in this case.
- With files from The Canadian Press
