Robin Philpot (born 1948) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

journalist and 2007 electoral candidate for the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

Background

Originally from

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario. Its population i ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, where his father Roderick Philpot was an alderman of the city of Fort William, Philpot is a graduate of Fort William Collegiate Institute and earned degrees in literature and history from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. After working in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, he established himself in

in 1974. In 1999, he became director of communications for the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (, ) is an institution in the Canadian province of Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic association in ...

in Montreal. He founded publishing company Baraka Books in 2009 with the support of Denis Vaugeois and Gilles Herman.

Political views

Philpot has called into question the testimony of

Roméo Dallaire Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a retired Canadian politician and military officer who was a senator from Quebec from 2005 to 2014, and a lieutenant-general in the Canadian Armed Forces. He notably was the force commander of U ...

on the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

; his brother is the Montreal lawyer John Philpot, who represented

Jean-Paul Akayesu Jean-Paul Akayesu (born 1953 in Taba) is a former teacher, school inspector, and Republican Democratic Movement (MDR) politician from Rwanda, convicted of genocide for his role in inciting the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Life Akayesu was ...

and other defendants accused of genocide and crimes against humanity at the trials conducted by the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; ; ) was an international court, international ''ad-hoc'' court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, Resolutio ...

. He is also known for his role in attacking the former federal Liberal government over the Option Canada program, a promotional enterprise funded by the federal government intended to promote federalism in Quebec and counter the

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (French: ''mouvement souverainiste du Québec'', ) is a political movement advocating for Quebec's independence from Canada. Proponents argue that Quebecers form a distinct nation with a unique culture, language, ...

. His book ''Oka: dernier alibi du Canada anglais'' analyses the

Oka Crisis The Oka Crisis (), also known as the Mohawk Crisis or Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a land rights, land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, over plans to build a golf course on land known as "The Pin ...

, arguing that the dispute was used by

English Canada English Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English. The term ''English Canada'' is also used for any of the following: *Describing all the provinces of Canada ...

as a political tool against Quebec.

2007 campaign

Philpot was an unsuccessful candidate for the riding of

Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises all of the Le Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal. It was created for the 1994 ...

in the

2007 Quebec general election 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has symbolic associations in religion, mythology, supers ...

, representing the

. During the campaign, remarks by Philpot about the Rwandan Genocide were publicised, including the statement: "In none of my writings have I denied that there were mass killings, some even of an ethnic character. However, I categorically reject the abusive use of the expression 'genocide'", from a 2004 opinion piece in

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

. The Parti Québécois was criticised over these remarks; PQ leader

André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and March 2003, Boisclair serv ...

defended Philpot, stating that Philpot's words had been misrepresented.

Works

*2004: ''Rwanda 1994: Colonialism dies hard

*2006: ''Les secrets d'Option Canada'' (coauthored by Normand Lester) *2009: ''A People's History of Quebec'' (cowritten by Jacques Lacoursière)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Philpot, Robin 1948 births Anglophone Quebec people Living people Politicians from Thunder Bay Journalists from Ontario Journalists from Quebec Parti Québécois candidates in Quebec provincial elections Writers from Thunder Bay Genocide deniers