A scandal appears to be brewing within the Canadian Space Agency that could cost the new head of the agency his job. The Canadian Press reported over the weekend that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) plans to start an investigation into reports that C$7.3 million in CSA contracts have never been accounted for. The contracts date back to 2000, and came to light in a 2004 lawsuit against the agency by a former CSA scientist, Samir Elomari, who argued that the agency was trying to take the rights to one of his inventions. Elomari claimed that Virendra Jha, CSA vice president for science and technology at the time of the suit, used “threats and reprisals” against Elomari. Elomari won the suit and last month filed a complaint with the RCMP that triggered the new investigation. Jha became president of the CSA late last year when Marc Garneau resigned to run for Parliament; Elomari told The Globe and Mail that Jha should step down. “He is under police investigation. It would be foolish for him to stay as president.”
