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==Notable work==
Attaran has had a diverse career as a scientist, lawyer, scholar, and advocate for public health, human rights and environmental protection.


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Attaran was counsel on a successful administrative law challenge to the issuance of wood incineration permits in British Columbia that caused exceptionally high levels of smoke and small particulates (PM 10) that harmed asthma patients.<ref>, BC Environmental Appeal Board, Appeals 99-WAS-06/08(d), 99-WAS-11/12/13(d), 00-WAS-01(d).</ref>{{Better source needed|date=April 2020}}

In 1999 and 2000, Attaran was an environmental lawyer participating in the negotiation of the ], which banned the manufacturing and use of certain toxic substances. Attaran led a controversial global campaign of over 400 scientists and medical doctors, including several Nobel prize winners, who wanted an exemption to use DDT in public health because it is extremely effective in reducing the deaths of children from malaria.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/29/world/ddt-target-of-global-ban-finds-defenders-in-experts-on-malaria.html|title=DDT, Target of Global Ban, Finds Defenders in Experts on Malaria|last=Stolberg|first=Sheryl Gay|date=1999-08-29|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref> South Africa's Medical Research Council subsequently invited Attaran to draft the public health exemption, which countries agreed at the sixth and last negotiation session in Johannesburg as Annex B of the Stockholm Convention.<ref>{{cite journal |date=2000-12-02 |title=Doctoring malaria, badly: the global campaign to ban DDT |journal=BMJ : British Medical Journal |volume=321 |issue=7273 |pages=1403–1405 |issn=0959-8138 |pmc=1119118 |pmid=11099289 |doi=10.1136/bmj.321.7273.1403|last1=Attaran |first1=A. |last2=Maharaj |first2=R. |last3=Liroff |first3=R. }}</ref> Although once opposed, Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund now accept using DDT in small amounts for public health, and the ] adopted it as a recommended malaria control strategy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html|title=It's Time To Spray DDT|last=Kristof|first=Nicholas D.|date=2005-01-08|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/who_htm_gmp_2011/en/|title=The use of DDT in malaria vector control. WHO position statement|website=World Health Organization|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-24}}</ref>

In 2001, Attaran acted as an advisor on patent and trade law to Brazil's Ministry of Health, to defend against a legal challenge the United States brought at the World Trade Organization, which sought to force Brazil to amend its patent laws and prohibit the affordable, generic versions of HIV/AIDS medicines on which the health ministry depended. Attaran and his colleague Paul Champ developed a legal strategy involving a retaliatory challenge to US patent laws.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paul|first=Champ|last2=Amir|first2=Attaran|date=2002-01-01|title=Patent Rights and Local Working Under the WTO TRIPS Agreement: An Analysis of the U.S.-Brazil Patent Dispute|url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yjil/vol27/iss2/5/|journal=Yale Journal of International Law|language=en|volume=27|issue=2|issn=0889-7743}}</ref> The United States withdrew its case under public pressure and Brazil continued using generic HIV/AIDS medicines for its population.

In 2001, Attaran and Jeffrey Sachs, then at Harvard working on the WHO Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, published an influential paper in ''The Lancet'' that the editors of that journal credited as the "blueprint" for fighting the global HIV/AIDS pandemic on a large scale.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Editorial|year=2001|title=Grants, not loans, for the developing world?|url=http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(00)03557-1/fulltext|journal=The Lancet|volume=357|issue=9249|pages=1|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(00)03557-1|pmid=11197352}}</ref> Attaran and Sachs proposed a new, multibillion-dollar fund that would be "based on grants, not loans, for the poorest countries", and which would be "judged as having epidemiological merit ... by a panel of independent scientific experts."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Attaran|first=A.|last2=Sachs|first2=J.|date=2001-01-06|title=Defining and refining international donor support for combating the AIDS pandemic|url=http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(00)03576-5/abstract|journal=Lancet|volume=357|issue=9249|pages=57–61|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(00)03576-5|issn=0140-6736|pmid=11197373}}</ref> Attaran and Sachs' policy innovations were widely championed by advocates, and incorporated into the design of the ] which launched later that year. The Fund has since saved over 20 million lives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/impact/|title=Impact|website=theglobalfund.org}}</ref>

{{Fact span|Attaran and human rights lawyer Paul Champ acted as legal counsel for ] and the ] in a judicial review of the Canadian Forces' detainee policy.|date=April 2020}} Although the Federal Courts found that torture could not be justified under s. 7 of the '']'', it ruled that the ''Charter'' lacks extraterritorial reach to the Canadian Forces' overseas military expeditions. Nonetheless, the Court's decision confirmed that Canada knew about detainees being tortured, as with a man who had "bruising ... consistent with the beating described", and whose story was corroborated by "Canadian personnel a large piece of braided electrical wire and a rubber hose" in the interrogation room.<ref>, 2008 FC 162.</ref> The Court's ruling that "Canadian Forces will undoubtedly have to give very careful consideration as to whether it is indeed possible to resume such transfers in the future without exposing detainees to a substantial risk of torture" led to strengthening the detainee policy shortly thereafter.

From 2009 to 2015, Attaran litigated a case at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario which sought to expand the reproductive rights of women and men by compelling the ] to fund ] irrespective of sex or disability. Ontario's practice had been to provide IVF only when a woman was infertile, and only where her disability affected the fallopian tubes, thereby excluding other forms of female infertility disability (e.g. cancer, endometriosis), and entirely excluding infertile men. The litigation convinced Ontario to strike an advisory panel on infertility<ref>http://health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/ivf/docs/ivf_report.pdf</ref> that included Attaran in exchange for him adjourning the hearing, the result of which was that the province finally accepted to fund IVF, mooting the legal challenge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/10/01/ohip-to-cover-in-vitro-fertization-treatments.html|title=Ontario to cover in-vitro fertilization treatments {{!}} Toronto Star|website=thestar.com|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref>

In 2008, Attaran wrote a ] opinion piece critical of the ] (DND) for supporting ] through the undisclosed financing of think tanks and academics favourable to Canada's involvement, alleging that the latter could be viewed as tainted.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/when-think-tanks-produce-propaganda/article718255/|title=When think tanks produce propaganda|access-date=2020-01-08}}</ref> David Pugliese, writing in the ], noted that Attaran faced fierce reactions from the DND "who sent in a letter of protest to the Globe as did several defence academics;" and that, in an exchange with one of those "defence academics," military historian ], Attaran pointed out that Granatstein himself had received an award of $5000 from an Ottawa-based think tank.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/professors-battle-it-out-over-allegations-dnd-funds-propaganda|title=PROFESSORS BATTLE IT OUT OVER ALLEGATIONS DND FUNDS PROPAGANDA {{!}} Ottawa Citizen|last=Pugliese|first=David|last2=February 29|first2=Ottawa Citizen Updated|date=2008-02-29|language=en|access-date=2020-01-07|last3=2008}}</ref>

In 2012, Attaran filed a complaint against right-wing political commentator Ezra Levant, who was also a lawyer ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/law-society-under-fire-for-dismissing-complaints-against-ezra-levant/article24000086/|title=Law society under fire for dismissing complaints against Ezra Levant|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|language=en-ca|access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref> Levant told a Hispanic banana company executive "''chinga tu madre''" ("go fuck your mother") on his ] show.<ref name="Ladurantaye Globe">{{cite news|last1=Ladurantaye|first1=Steve|title=Defiant Levant stands by Spanish slur|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/defiant-levant-stands-by-spanish-slur/article4256328/|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The Globe and Mail|date=13 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221203610/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/defiant-levant-stands-by-spanish-slur/article4256328/|archive-date=21 February 2017|quote=Hey you, yeah you, Manuel Rodriguez. ''Chinga tu madre.''}}</ref> The ] initially withdrew the charges, but ] Justice Dawn Pentelechuk said the society's explanation for doing so was "unsatisfactory and unclear" and ordered a hearing to determine if they had committed an abuse of process.<ref name="Fine Globe">{{cite news|last1=Fine|first1=Sean|title=Law society under fire for dismissing complaints against Ezra Levant|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/law-society-under-fire-for-dismissing-complaints-against-ezra-levant/article24000086/|access-date=24 February 2017|work=The Globe and Mail|date=16 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604042104/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/law-society-under-fire-for-dismissing-complaints-against-ezra-levant/article24000086/|archive-date=4 June 2016}}</ref> Levant ultimately resigned from the bar in March, 2016 rather than face a disciplinary hearing. Attaran criticized the law society for allowing Levant to resign without reprimand, saying that it breached their own rules.<ref name="CBC Edmonton">{{cite news|last1=Rusnell|first1=Charles|title=Ezra Levant law-society resignation application criticized by complainants|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ezra-levant-law-society-resignation-application-criticized-by-complainants-1.3471176|access-date=24 February 2017|work=CBC News|date=1 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419150730/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ezra-levant-law-society-resignation-application-criticized-by-complainants-1.3471176|archive-date=19 April 2016}}</ref> In 2013, Attaran accused ] of falsely alleging that ] committed a crime by smoking marijuana. In dismissing the complaint,<ref>{{cite web|title=MacKay's pot comment OK, regulator says |url=https://theprovince.com/news/MacKay+comment+regulator+says/9009923/story.html |publisher=The Province |access-date=24 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206031254/http://www.theprovince.com/news/MacKay%2Bcomment%2Bregulator%2Bsays/9009923/story.html |archive-date=6 December 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> the ] said there was no evidence to suggest MacKay knew he was saying something false.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McLeod|first1=Paul|title=Pot complaint against MacKay dismissed|url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1159162-pot-complaint-against-mackay-dismissed|access-date=24 February 2017|work=Halifax Chronicle-Herald|date=7 October 2013}}</ref> MacKay was ] at the time.

In 2016, Attaran filed a complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging that the federal government's Canada Research Chair program discriminated against women, visible minorities, aboriginal people, and persons with disabilities. Attaran brought legal challenge after the CRC Program's decade-long failure to honour a settlement agreement signed by the government of Prime Minister ], setting firm employment equity targets for these four groups.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/canadian-universities-fail-to-meet-diversity-hiring-targets/article29935311/|title=Canadian universities fail to meet diversity hiring targets|last=HANNAY|first=CHRIS|date=2016-05-08|access-date=2017-06-06|language=en-ca}}</ref> The government under Prime Minister ] sided with Attaran, and in 2017 Science Minister ] announced that universities would be required either to increase diversity and meet the employment equity targets, or lose their federal CRC funding.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-to-pull-research-funding-unless-diversity-issue-addressed-at-universities/article34905004/|title=Ottawa to universities: Improve diversity or lose research chair funds|last=HANNAY|first=CHRIS|date=2017-05-04|access-date=2017-06-06|language=en-ca}}</ref>


==Criticism of Covid-19 response== ==Criticism of Covid-19 response==

Revision as of 18:28, 18 March 2021

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Amir Attaran
BornSan Diego, California
NationalityCanada, USA, Iran
Alma materUC Berkeley (BA), Caltech (MS), University of Oxford (PhD), University of British Columbia (LLB)
Occupation(s)Professor, University of Ottawa
Known forHuman rights, public health work and controversial comments

Amir Attaran (Template:Lang-fa) is a Canadian-American-Iranian law and medicine professor. Currently, Attaran is a Full Professor in both the Faculty of Law and the School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

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Criticism of Covid-19 response

During the COVID-19 crisis, Attaran testified in Parliament, and wrote articles generally critical of the pandemic response in Canada.

Attaran caused controversy among nationalists in Quebec when he likened it to "the sick man of Canada" after it recorded more deaths in a single day than much more populous countries in Asia, Europe, and the Pacific, and more than any other province in Canada. Attaran made a link between covid cases in Quebec and French Canadian education. That affirmation was seen as racist towards french canadiens.

Controversies

Attaran was involved in additional controversies over the years regarding his comments made online and alleged racism towards himself. In 2016, Attaran alleged that he was denied a Canada Research Chair promotion based on racial bias. He then filled a discrimination lawsuit against the University of Ottawa through Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Attaran's claims were never proven in court since a confidential settlement was reached with the university.

In July 2019, Attaran was accused of elitism in both mainstream and specialized (higher education) medias for calling the conservatives the "party of the uneducated". In June 2020, Attaran wrote on Twitter: "In my experience as a brown guy at a bilingual university on the Quebec-Ontario border, there is plenty of racism, and more often than not when it speaks to me the first word is “Bonjour”." He was later accused of francophobia and Quebec bashing by officials of the province and the University of Ottawa condemned his words. Attaran made similar comments targeting French-speaking professors in October 2020. In December 2020, Attaran was heavily criticized for comparing "US nationalism" to "Quebec nationalism", despite the fact that Quebec is a province not a sovereign entity, and making a link between Quebec's high COVID-19 death rate and the supposed failure of the Quebec nation as a whole. Attaran also claimed that racism was "way out there" in Quebec without any supporting facts or studies, and claimed that Francophones in Quebec do not form a group targetted by hateful speech, contrary to other inhabitants of the province such as Haitians and Moroccans, while he himself wrote such comments he stated did not exist. In March 2021, Attaran wrongfully stated that the Quebec healthcare personel killed Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman, while no proof to support this statement was found to this date. He also wrote that Quebec praticed "medical lynching". The University of Ottawa, his employer, officially disapproved and qualified Attaran's comments as "offensive" and "not in any way reflect the values of respect, inclusion and diversity in which believe", but stated that the university will not intervene because his comments were protected by the freedom of speech.

On 3 December 2020, Attaran claimed that the Government of Canada "should not provide Alberta field hospitals" due to perceived mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic on the part of the provincial government. He further accused Albertan commentator Max Fawcett of "ypical Albertan arrogance" for claiming that Alberta was entitled to federal medical aid due to its large contributions to equalization payments in Canada.

See also

References

  1. "Denied promotion, University of Ottawa professor Amir Attaran takes discrimination fight to human rights tribunal". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  2. "Racisme systémique dans les universités canadiennes". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  3. "LILLEY: Prof gets a fail for 'party of the uneducated' tweet". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  4. "Academe should avoid politicizing educational attainment (opinion) | Inside Higher Ed". insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  5. "https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1268038782898577408". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-10-23. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  6. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société-. "Les propos d'un professeur de l'Université d'Ottawa sur le racisme des francophones font réagir". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  7. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société-. "La controverse à l'Université d'Ottawa, nouveau chapitre des "deux solitudes"?". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  8. https://www.journaldequebec.com/2020/12/19/le-quebec-mauvais-par-nature
  9. "https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1371191521609875459". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-03-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  10. "https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1371296211072819203". Twitter. Retrieved 2021-03-15. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  11. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Société-. "Les propos d'un professeur de l'Université d'Ottawa sur le racisme des francophones font réagir". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2021-03-15.
  12. Bellerose, Patrick. "Le Québec pratique un «lynchage médical», dit un prof de l'Université d'Ottawa". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  13. Twitter https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1334352408584073218. Retrieved 2020-12-03. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. Twitter https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1334877938286727168. Retrieved 2020-12-03. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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