Normand Lester

Normand Lester (born July 10, 1945) is a Quebec investigative journalist.^[1][2] Though he built his reputation through investigations of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Forces, he is best known for the controversy created in Canada after the publication of his book Le Livre noir du Canada anglais ("The Black Book of English Canada") in 2005.

Biography

He started his career in journalism in 1964. Two years later, he was working for Radio-Canada, in which he found himself posted around the Western world, being posted, for example, in Paris, France from 1983 to 1986.

In 1986, he was posted as parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa. He began to investigate and study the activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which had been created that year to take over duties formerly under the aegis of the RCMP. This would be the beginning of a long string of reports, some shocking, on the activities of CSIS, lasting twelve years. He investigated Claude Morin, cabinet minister and close advisor to René Lévesque and also a paid informant of the RCMP.

After the publication of the first part of the trilogy that is Livre noir du Canada anglais, Radio-Canada suspended him from his work on November 18, 2001, citing a lack of partiality.

A few days later, the SSJB awarded him the Prix Olivar-Asselin for both his courage and excellence in investigative journalism. On December 5, 2001, after 35 years of service, Lester quit Radio-Canada. Since then, he has written for various newspapers, such as le Devoir.

In 2002, TVA hired him as a news commentator. In September 2005, he decided to quit for a similar job at TQS, with Jean-Luc Mongrain.

In 2006, he co-authored with Robin Philpot a book denouncing the actions of Option Canada, one of the organizations supporting the No side in the 1995 Quebec referendum. The actions of this group were alleged to have violated Quebec provincial laws and several key players in the organization would later be investigated for links to the sponsorship scandal. [1]

Bibliography

• 1991 : L'Affaire Gerald Bull. Les Canons de l'apocalypse
• 1998 : Enquêtes sur les services secrets
• 2001 : Prisonnier à Bangkok (in collaboration with Alain Olivier)
• 2001 : Le Livre noir du Canada anglais, tome 1
• 2002 : Le Livre noir du Canada anglais, tome 2
• 2003 : Le Livre noir du Canada anglais, tome 3
• Alerte dans l’espace
• 2005 : Mom (in collaboration with Guy Ouellette)
• 2006 : Les Secrets d'Option Canada

References

1. ^ Kate Lunau (28 May 2007). "The Macleans.ca Interview: André Pratte". Macleans. http://www.macleans.ca/canada/features/article.jsp?content=20070528_175644_12172. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 
2. ^ "Canada Finds Itself Embroiled In Rare Spy Drama With Soviets". Bangor Daily News. Associated Press. 24 June 1988. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V7FJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wA4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1040,3396811&dq=normand+lester&hl=en. Retrieved 8 February 2011. 

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Name	Lester, Normand
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Date of birth	July 10, 1945
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