Maillé affair

Éoliennes de l'Érable, a wind turbine company, made a request in court to obtain Dr Maillé's data.

The Maillé affair was a court case in the superior court of Quebec that threatened to force scientist Marie-Ève Maillé to give the court access to de-anonymized research data. The research concerned a conflict that arose in l'Érable regarding a wind farm. Maillé researched the impact of the conflict on social cohesion and conducted interviews with 93 residents. In 2012 a group of residents launched a class action lawsuit against the wind energy company. In 2016 the court ordered Maillé to provide the raw data from her study, which she refused on the grounds that it was her ethical duty to preserve the anonymity of her research participants. The court order was rescinded in 2017.[1][2][3]

Sequence of events

After a call for bids by Hydro-Québec in 2005, a wind farm project was presented by Enerfín for the regional county municipality (RCM) of l'Érable. In 2008, Enerfín created the subsidiary Éoliennes de l'Érable to develop the project.[4]

The wind farm project divided the citizens of l'Érable.[5] In the report presented to the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement, a deterioration of the social climate was noted, based on essays submitted by citizens.[6] Despite the tensions, the project was authorized and construction started in 201l. The wind farm became active in November 2013.[4]

In 2010, PhD student Marie-Ève Maillé interviewed residents of the RCM of l'Érable about the diffusion of information regarding the project and the social division it created.[7] In this context, she interviewed 93 residents, for which both she and participants signed consent forms committing to the anonymity of the resulting research data. The thesis was published in 2012.

In November 2012, some residents filed a class-action lawsuit against Éoliennes de l'Érable, complaining about inconveniences caused by the construction and operation of the wind farm.[8] The lawsuit was accepted in 2014 by the Quebec Superior Court.[9] In 2015, the residents involved in the class action asked Dr Maillé to act as an expert witness in the lawsuit.[1]

Éoliennes de l'Érable requested the records of the interviews conducted by Maillé for her PhD, as well as the names of the people interviewed, in order to prepare the company's defense. In January 2016, the court ordered Maillé to provide this information to the company.[10] In order to avoid being forced to divulge her data, Maillé withdrew as an expert witness. However, in March 2016, the court again ordered her to provide her data. In June 2016 she asked the court to review its order because it would require her to either break the confidentiality agreement she made with her research participants, or expose herself for contempt of court.

In November 2016, the University of Quebec in Montreal and other scientific organizations in Québec filed a intervention with the court supporting Maillé's request to rescind the order. [11]

In May 2017 the court withdrew its order.[12]

Reactions from the scientific community

In August 2016, Québec's chief scientist Rémi Quirion said Maillé's research would never have been funded without the guarantee that the participants would remain anonymous.[13] The same day, the director of the Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research, Susan V. Zimmerman emphasized that it is the researcher's duty to guarantee confidentiality on the information they obtain.

In November 2016, the Canadian Association of University Teachers said it was concerned by the order forcing Maillé to reveal the identity of the participants to her research.[14] The day after, a letter co-signed by over 200 researchers from institutions in Québec was published. The authors of the letter wrote that the confidentiality of participants' data is an "inescapable aspect of academic research involving humans".[15] They wrote that "the future of scientific inquiry and citizen confidence in academic research rely on this issue".

The vice-rector for research, discovery, creation and innovation of Université de Montréal reiterated the importance of respecting research participants' private lives, which is a "key element of ethics of research involving human participants".[16] At Université du Québec à Rimouski, researchers emphasized that failing to protect information obtained in a research context may "deter citizen response to researchers requests and questions as well as restricting access to first hand data essential to a fine understanding of social realities".[17]

References

  1. 1 2 Castonguay, Pascale (2017-06-07). "Quebec ruling reaffirms research data confidentiality". University Affairs. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  2. ↑ Drouin, Elena (4 November 2016). "Issue of Protection of Academic Sources Raised in Recent Quebec Court Order". Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Kondro, Wayne (22 November 2016). "Canadian researcher in legal battle to keep her interviews confidential". Science. AAAS. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Historique du projet". Éoliennes de l'Érable. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ Municipalité Régionale de Comté de L’Érable (2009). Mémoire sur le projet d'aménagement du parc éolien de l'Érable (PDF) (Report). p. 57. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (2010). Rapport d'enquête et d'audience publique sur le projet d'aménagement d'un parc éolien dans la MRC de l'Érable (PDF) (Report). Government of Québec. p. 147. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ Maillé, Marie-Ève (2012). Information, confiance et cohésion sociale dans un conflit environnemental lié à un projet de parc éolien au Québec (PDF) (PhD). Université du Québec à Montréal.
  8. ↑ Jean Rivard & Yvon Bourque v. Éoliennes de l'Érable, s.e.c. (Cour Supérieure du Québec 29 October 2012), Text, archived from the original on 20 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Proulx, Geneviève (10 November 2014). "L'entreprise Éoliennes de l'Érable visée par un recours collectif". Radio-Canada. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  10. ↑ Jean Rivard & Yvon Bourque v. Éoliennes de l'Érable, s.e.c. (Cour Supérieure du Québec 13 January 2016), Text.
  11. ↑ Jean Rivard & Yvon Bourque (Cour Supérieure du Québec 18 November 2016), Text, archived from the original on 21 December 2016.
  12. ↑ Jean Rivard et Yvon Bourque c. Éoliennes de l'Érable S.E.C. (defenderess), Marie-Ève Maillé (applicant), Fonds de recherche du Québec Nature et technologie, Fonds de recherche du Québec Santé, Fonds de recherche du Québec Société et culture, Université du Québec à Montréal et Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d'université (intervenants) (Cour Supérieure du Québec 31 May 2017), Text, archived from the original on 5 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Bergeron, Ulysse (31 October 2016). "Une chercheuse forcée par la justice de révéler l'identité de ses sources". Radio-Canada. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ "CAUT urges defence of research confidentiality at UQAM". Canadian Association of University Teachers. 2 November 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ Pouliot, Chantal; et al. (3 November 2016). "L'affaire Maillé, ou l'avenir de la confidentialité dans la recherche scientifique". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  16. ↑ Sauvé, Mathieu-Robert (8 November 2016). "Ne touchez pas à la confidentialité en recherche!". Université de Montréal. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Des fondements de la pratique scientifique mis en cause". Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le développement régional, de l'Est du Québec. Facebook. 17 November 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2016.

See also

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