Famed Quebec actor and acting professor fired due to allegations of harassment

FILE (Photo: Les enfants de la télé/Facebook)

MONTREAL — A renown Quebec actor and professor at the province’s music and dramatic arts conservatory has been fired from his job following allegations of “psychological harassment.”

Gilbert Sicotte, 70, was suspended from the conservatory’s Montreal school after he was accused in November of harassing students over a period of many years.

The school says in a statement Tuesday that it conducted an investigation in the allegations and concluded it needed to terminate Sicotte’s contract.

But it did not provide specifics of the allegations or how many students came forward.

An agency that represents Sicotte says, for the moment, he will not be providing a statement.

Sicotte worked in television, theatre and in film and was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2014.

He had worked at Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Quebec for roughly three decades.

“Our thoughts are with the people who came forward to say they lived through difficult moments,” Marc Lalonde, director general of the school, said in a statement. “(The conservatory) has the responsibility of offering a health learning and work environment.”