A professor and biochemist with 35 years of research experience in the areas of genomics, lipid nanoparticles, and RNA has been fired from Quebec City’s Université Laval over his criticisms of the Covid-19 vaccine.
On March 28, 2024, Dr. Patrick Provost received a letter from the Vice-Rector of Human Resources and Finance, André Darveau, informing him he had been sacked from his post.
Since 2021, Provost had been subject to 11 complaints over his internal and public comments about Covid-19 mRNA vaccines. These complaints came from citizens, doctors and other professors, two of which were anonymous. As a result, Provost received four suspensions without pay for a total of six months, one week and one day.
He has filed grievances regarding the suspensions with the provincial Labour Tribunal, and his union is representing him in contesting his dismissal.
Provost called ULaval’s treatment of him “illegal, unjust, unreasonable and abusive.”
“I am probably the first professor to be dismissed in the exercise of his academic freedom since (Quebec’s) ‘Act respecting academic freedom in the university environment,’ which is supposed to protect it, came into force on 7 June 2022,” Provost wrote in a translated April 23 letter to his colleagues.
On May 3, a group of professors penned an open letter calling on ULaval to reinstate and apologize to Dr. Provost.
“Patrick Provost drew a line at what amounted to medical experimentation on children,” the professors wrote in their letter, published by the Brownstone Institute.
“He was in a good position to grasp the potential harms of the Pfizer and Moderna modified mRNA injections. He came to the conclusion some time ago that the risks outweighed the rewards, at least where children were concerned.”
Provost wrote in his own published letter, “Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA products are based on a completely new technology and are not ‘vaccines’ – the definition of which was changed in September 2021 – in the traditional sense of the term as understood by the general public.”
“Being aware of the potential risks, known and unknown, associated with these new ‘vaccines’, I could not remain silent on such important issues, where lives were at stake, particularly those of children. So I decided to go public with my deep and legitimate concerns, which have evolved over time and are based on recognised concepts, solid scientific evidence and reasoning.”
Provost notes that in his decades-long career, he has obtained nearly $6 million in government funding, trained 60 highly-qualified students and researchers, published approximately 100 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals (cited in over 16,000 other articles), and won three Discovery of the Year awards.
“Why do they turn a deaf ear or refuse to hear my well-founded and reasonable arguments? Why are they trying to silence me, without discussion or debate, and destroy my career as a teacher-researcher? Why am I being prevented from using my expertise and knowledge to help protect the public who pay my salary? Why was I dismissed for wanting to protect the public?” Provost said in his letter.
“If teachers can no longer express themselves freely within their institution or in the public arena, who will be able to express themselves freely in society?”
Other professors, scientists, and researchers have found themselves in professional turmoil over Covid-19 dissent.
Dr. Matt Strauss, an Ontario-based critical care physician and Conservative candidate, has launched a lawsuit against his former employer, Queen’s University. Queen’s allegedly subjected Strauss to public condemnation and professional repercussions after he argued against Covid-19 lockdowns and mandates via his X account.
The social media platform X, owned by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is funding Strauss’ lawsuit.
X is also paying the legal bills for anti-lockdown pediatrician Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill.
