Arctic science conference in Winnipeg roiled up over ‘sexist’ banquet joke
WINNIPEG — Canada’s annual gathering of top Arctic scientists has been roiled by an open letter from researchers protesting what they call a sexist joke at the conference’s gala banquet.
The joke was made Wednesday during a tribute to Martin Fortier, retiring head of ArcticNet, which co-ordinates northern research in Canada.
“Basically, it was a roast of his contributions to the network,” said David Barber, a Canada Research Chair in Arctic system science at the University of Manitoba, speaking on behalf of the ArcticNet board. “The idea was to poke fun at some misspeaks that Martin has made over the years.”
Fortier is a francophone.