CSIS officer fired for complaining publicly about agency’s lack of COVID-19 masking
A report by Employment and Social Development Canada also later “condemned the Service for the very same thing,” Kim Patenaude wrote.Vos Smith told CSIS in an email that the failure to require masking was “bizarre,” and he had faced reprisals and attempts to discredit him for expressing concerns about the policies.
COVID-19 fuelled national security challenges for CSIS, as extremists and authoritarian anti-western regimes — notably China, Russia and Iran — tried to capitalize on the pandemic by spreading conspiracy theories. At the same time, it was a challenging time for CSIS employees, many of whom were unable to work remotely because of the secretive nature of their jobs.in February 2021, complaining about the lack of physical distancing at headquarters and weak policies on workplace masking.CSIS officer Gary Vos Smith giving an interview to Global News about his agency’s workplace COVID-19 protocols.
In the interview, Vos Smith said he was speaking for hundreds of intelligence service staff frustrated about CSIS pandemic policies when he raised the issue, first internally and then with Global News.While he said it went against his instincts as an intelligence officer to speak out, he felt compelled to talk about employee health and safety concerns that in his view were not being properly addressed.
On Nov. 15, 2022, CSIS sent him an email telling him to report to headquarters the next day to receive a termination letter, according to correspondence viewed by Global News.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
B.C. Premier David Eby, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to make announcement on Wednesday | Globalnews.caB.C. is one of the last provinces that has yet to sign a new health-care funding deal with the federal government.
Read more »
DAVID JOHNSON: David and Goliath struggle continues in Ukraine | SaltWireIn Leo Tolstoy’s great novel ‘War and Peace’, dealing with Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812, there is a scene when Russian general Mikhael Kutuzov ...
Read more »
China dismisses FBI comments on COVID-19 lab leak theory - National | Globalnews.caFor the second day in a row, China on Wednesday dismissed U.S. suggestions that the COVID-19 pandemic may have been triggered by a virus that leaked from a Chinese laboratory.
Read more »
N.B. seafood foreign workers faced awful conditions during COVID-19: study | Globalnews.caThe study says workers in New Brunswick's seafood industry endured low pay, long hours, overcrowded housing and limited access to health care.
Read more »
Novavax shares plunge after COVID-19 vaccine maker raises doubts over its future - National | Globalnews.caNovavax — whose COVID-19 vaccine is its only marketed product after 35 years in business — on Tuesday flagged significant uncertainty around its 2023 revenue.
Read more »
Opinion: CSIS is worried about China interfering in our elections, even if the government isn’tPerhaps the most outrageous part of these revelations has been the Prime Minister’s response to them
Read more »