Evidence of meeting #129 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Have you received any other remuneration from the Trudeau Foundation?
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
No. In fact, since, I'm going to say, 2013, I've had very little to do with the Trudeau Foundation. I was involved briefly at the beginning of the pandemic. It had a pandemic response committee that I sat on; it involved academics from across the country. I believe I sat on that committee for.... I think we had just a handful of meetings, and I received no money—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I'm sorry to cut you off, but my time is limited.
The committee that you're referring to is the Trudeau Foundation's COVID-19 impact committee. Is that correct?
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
That's correct, and I received no remuneration for that.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you for that.
How much money have you received from the Trudeau government in the way of research grants in the past two years to study misinformation and disinformation?
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
Would this be from entities like the independent Canadian Institutes of Health Research?
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I mean from government agencies, the Trudeau government. How much money have you received?
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
From the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2020, I received, I believe, about $300,000 to study misinformation. This was a peer-reviewed grant, as you know, that was held by the university. I shared that grant with two other institutions, the University of Calgary and the University of Regina, and that money was used to support trainees and research.
Then since—
Conservative
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
I'm also fortunate to be an adviser now of an entity called ScienceUpFirst. We've also received funding from the government. Again, I don't receive any personal funding. We use that to—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you for that.
I appreciate those answers, but I do want to ask you why it is you didn't disclose that up front—your connections to the Trudeau Foundation, the fact that you have received a significant amount of research money specifically on the subject matter of misinformation and disinformation from none other than the Trudeau government—and you have come to this committee and presented yourself—
Liberal
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
—as an objective expert, even though you have provided a submission to this committee—
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Hold on, Mr. Cooper. I have a point of order.
Go ahead, Ms. Khalid.
Liberal
Iqra Khalid Liberal Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON
Thank you.
My point of order is on relevance. I doubt this line of questioning deals with the expertise that Professor Caulfield brings to the table on this very important subject.
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
I'm happy to answer it.
September 26th, 2024 / 4:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Ms. Khalid.
Look, members know that I allow a lot of latitude here, and attitude, when it comes to questioning. It's the member's time. Mr. Cooper has the right to ask whatever questions he wants, as uncomfortable, perhaps, as those questions may be, or perhaps some members may not like those questions.
Mr. Caulfield, I'll let Mr. Cooper finish here, and then you can answer, sir.
Go ahead, Mr. Cooper. You have two minutes left.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Caulfield, why did you not disclose that to the committee up front?
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
I am fortunate to be an academic at the University of Alberta. As an academic, I have a responsibility to try to bring in research grants to do independent research. Like all academics, I receive grant funding from various sources. It's independent. I don't receive it personally. That's how research is funded in Canada.
By the way, my biggest research grant—
Conservative
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
Sir—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
—taking back my time, I think it's highly germane that you were a fellow at the Trudeau Foundation. You received $200,000-plus from the Trudeau Foundation. You sat on a Trudeau Foundation committee as recently as four years ago and you've been funded by the Trudeau government, yet you come out and present yourself as an objective expert when you have written hit pieces on Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives and submitted a brief that singles out, or largely singles out, Conservatives as spreading misinformation and disinformation. I think this committee deserves better.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, As an Individual
May I comment?
Conservative