A professor at Laval University currently suspended without pay for a second time for his criticism of COVID-19 vaccination in children says the institution has abandoned on Feb. 14 a third disciplinary process against him which could have led to his firing.
Patrick Provost, a full professor in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious diseases and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine, said in a statement the university reversed course “completely unexpectedly.”
Provost is currently purging a four month’s suspension for saying on a Quebec radio show that there are more risks than benefit to vaccinating children against COVID-19.
This is his second suspension around the same issue, with the first one lasting two months last summer.
The latest episode of the saga relates to a third complaint sent to the university on Jan. 6 which it deemed receivable.
The complaint, seen by The Epoch Times, alerted Laval University to a scientific article published by Provost and Dr. Hélène Banoun, a French pharmacist and biologist equally critical of COVID-19 measures.
“What is the credibility of the Faculty of Medicine of Laval University when we see [Provost’s] name on articles which pretend that the vaccine causes a large number of deaths?” wrote the unidentified complainant.
The article based on a retrospective observational study concludes that “most health-related events experienced by patients vaccinated against COVID-19 occurred beyond the 6-week period prescribed by the health authorities.”
“Our findings call for further investigations and an extension of the post-vaccination AE [adverse events] reporting period.”
Provost and reps from his union met with university management on Jan. 18 to provide his point of view.
“After analyzing your version of events and the documents provided during the meeting, it seems that the allegations with regards to your potential breach of principles 5, 6, and 7 of the Policy are unfounded,” said Vice-Dean André Darveau in his Feb. 14 letter to Provost advising him the complaint wouldn’t be further actioned.
Those principles refer to conducting honest research while respecting academic freedom, treating data with rigour, and releasing research results in a responsible way.
Having been sanctioned twice previously for similarly critical views of the mass vaccination program with mRNA technology, Provost suggested that robust support from his peers could have had an impact in the university not going forward with processing the third complaint.
He notes the letter signed by 280 Laval professors sent to university leadership in mid-February criticizing the previous sanctions.
The letter says that taking a critical stance on a sensitive social issue “does not constitute serious professional misconduct” and that sanctions will lead to self-censorship.
“A professor could express a different opinion and present arguments that aren’t widely accepted nor within the dominant narrative, the University could not claim as adequate to suspend him.”
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Provost criticizes how easily he says Laval University accepts complaints from the public and suggests the institution should instead facilitate a dialogue between the complainant and the subject of the complaint.
“Laval University encourages its professors to speak out and communicate with the public at large, but deems receivable a complaint based on labels (‘conspiracy theorist’ and ‘anti-vaxxer’) from a [complainant]” he says.
“Why not let me speak with the [complainant] to explain our publication which shows that the majority of adverse events occur beyond the prescribed six weeks period post-injection?”
The Epoch Times contacted Laval University for comment but didn’t hear back immediately.
