Ethics on Trial

Protecting Humans in Canada's Broken Research System

Janice E. Parente, Michael McDonald

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English

Dundurn Press
13 November 2025

Medical ethics & professional conduct

Exposing the human consequences of Canada's broken research system.

The governance framework for human research in Canada is dangerously flawed and has the potential to lead to harm and suffering.

Canadian researchers and research companies have been allowed to flirt with informed consent; choose research ethics boards with less restrictive oversight; and violate the rights, safety, and welfare of Canadians - including those in situations of vulnerability - under the indifferent eye of a federal government unwilling to fix the system.

In Ethics on Trial, Janice E. Parente - who has led the fight for oversight and accountability of human research in Canada for three decades - shows readers the devastating consequences of the current flawed approach. She proposes a simple solution that embraces a good and ethical system of governance - a system that Canadians should insist on and Canada's lawmakers and research funders should wholeheartedly adopt.

By: Janice E. Parente
Foreword by: Michael McDonald
Imprint: Dundurn Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 297g
ISBN: 9781459755970
ISBN 10: 1459755979
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 13 November 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: A Suspicious Death Chapter 2: “Where Did You Get That Canoe?” Chapter 3: Ethics for Sale Chapter 4: “What’s a Few Grand to Protect Your Reputation?” Chapter 5: The Consequences of No Consequences Chapter 6: Gaps in Oversight Chapter 7: The Origins of Research Participant Protection Chapter 8: “Change Your Brain Waves; Change Your Life!” Chapter 9: Good and Ethical Governance, Part I Chapter 10: Good and Ethical Governance, Part II Chapter 11: Unsavoury Headwinds Conclusion Acknowledgements Notes Index

Janice E. Parente has, for over thirty years, been one of Canada's leading advocates for the rights, safety, and welfare of human research participants. Janice holds a degree in biochemistry from McMaster University and a PhD in medicine from the University of Alberta. Janice lives in the Laurentian region of Quebec.

Reviews for Ethics on Trial: Protecting Humans in Canada's Broken Research System

Drawing on her own records and those of federal agencies, Parente reveals how Canada’s human research protection regime remains disjointed, fractious, and prone to territorialism—often at the expense of those who offer their time and bodies to research intended to benefit us all. In a time of growing public distrust in science, the need for a rigorous and robust accreditation system is critical. Ethics on Trial is just such a plea. * Michael Owen, PhD, Professor, Educational Studies, Brock University; Editor- in-Chief, Brock Education Journal * Ethics on Trial is a story that needed to be told. For more than a quarter-century, efforts to strengthen the protection of human research participants in Canada have been repeatedly stymied—leaving a flawed system in place. It’s a regretful and shameful reality. Thank you, Janice, for bringing it to light. * Pierre Deschamps, B.CL., Ad.E., C.M. (Order of Canada - research ethics); author of the Deschamps Report *