A true intellectual who was quiet and humble is how family, friends and colleagues described Roderick MacIsaac at a memorial service Thursday at the University of Victoria’s Interfaith Chapel.
Harold Roderick MacIsaac, 46, was found dead by police in his Saanich residence on Jan. 8. Detectives found nothing apparent to suggest foul play and not enough evidence to confirm a suicide. The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating.
Family remembered MacIsaac’s love of his family and the environment. A professor and fellow PhD student recalled a man who was methodical, well-researched and precise.
MacIsaac was one of seven ministry employees fired after an internal privacy breach investigation. None of the allegations has been proved in court.
Health economist Rebecca Warburton, MacIsaac’s supervisor at UVic, and one of those also fired by the Health Ministry, expressed hope the group would be vindicated this year and sadness that MacIsaac would not see that happen. The B.C. Government Employees Union filed a grievance on behalf of three union members, including MacIsaac.
MacIsaac was born and raised in Alberta and moved to Victoria in 1979. He earned his master’s degree in political science from the University of B.C. in 2007, and entered UVic’s PhD public administration program the same year. He was described as “a first-rate student.”
He was days from completing his work at the Ministry of Health, helping to evaluate its smoking-cessation program, when he was fired.
