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In the course of an internal review and audit begun in March of 2007, the University determined that some of the research funds accepted on behalf of the Friends of Science "had been used to support a partisan viewpoint on climate change" and had returned unspent grant money on September 10, 2007, according to a Calgary Foundation statement.[https://www.sourcewatch.org/images/4/4c/Science_Education_Fund_Update_2008.pdf] As a consequence, the University advised FoS "that it would no longer accept funds on the organization's behalf", according to an email from University legal counsel Elizabeth Osler sent on December 24, 2007. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/a4/FOS_UofC_Email_3.pdf] On February 17, 2008, CanWest News Service reported that U of C officials had shut down Cooper's "'Research on Climate Change' trust account", and were about to advise Elections Canada of the University's ongoing review of the matter. [http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=b2307acc-cc2a-42dc-b562-3ed737847a4d&k=81087]
A few days later, CanWest reported that the targeting of the FoS radio ad campaign to key Ontario ridings was directed by then FoS media contact [[Morten Paulsen]] (later a vice-president at [[Fleishman-Hillard]]), who also served as volunteer spokesperson for the [[Stephen Harper]] led [[Conservative Party of Canada]] during the election. [http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=595cc20a-7e54-4882-b3db-23e75f19a9a4&k=48047]
On Nov. 29, 2005, on the eve of the afore-mentioned federal election campaign, Paulsen attempted to register for the UN COP-11 climate change conference in Montreal, along with FoS scientific advisor Madhav Khandekar. According to Licia Corbella in the Calgary Sun, the Friends of Science pair were refused entry to the conference. [http://www.qando.net/details.aspx?Entry=3056]
According to an e-mail from FoS spokesperson Albert Jacobs: "Morten Paulsen served as our PR man under contract for over a year. This contract ended in July 2006 when Morten became Vice-President of Hillard Fleischman [sic]." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/9/9b/FOS_Email.pdf] In response to further queries concerning Paulsen's lobbying activities, Jacobs wrote: "I know nothing about Morten being a registered lobbyist for FoS. As far as I know FoS does not employ any 'lobbyists'." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/c/ca/FOS_Email_3.pdf]
But Paulsen, who "has close Conservative ties", was not only registered as a lobbyist for Friends of Science, but also for "[https://strategis.ic.gc.ca/app/secure/ec/lrrs/search.do;jsessionid=0000b2Ykxvv7-LVBFd_atY_gDx2:10hc5g1ed several petroleum companies] including [[Conoco-Phillips Canada]], and [[Kinder Morgan Canada Inc.]] Paulsen has long been active in the federal Conservative Party and its Reform/Alliance predecessors, serving as [[Preston Manning]]'s communication director, managing MP [[Art Hanger]]'s 2004 election campaign, and also holding high-ranking positions with the Alberta Conservatives," according to the Liberal Party of Canada in Alberta in August 2006. [http://www.liberalalberta.ca/news.aspx?site=news&news=11826] He is currently Senior Vice President and General Manager at Fleishman-Hillard, leading Alberta operations. According to his Fleishman-Hillard biography, Paulsen "was a spokesperson for the Conservative Party in the last federal election and co-chaired the 2006 Alberta Provincial PC Convention." [http://www.fleishman.ca/en/leaders/morten_paulsen/]
==Funding==
As detailed below, much of the Friends of Science funding has come from anonymous donations to research trust funds set up by University of Calgary professor Barry Cooper. However, following an internal audit by the University, the University has advised FoS "that it would no longer accept funds on the organization's behalf", according to an email from University legal counsel Elizabeth Osler. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/a4/FOS_UofC_Email_3.pdf]
===Funding sources===
"Reader: Incidentally, I would truly appreciate if you could tell me how you are funded. Where does your money come from?
"FoS: We are funded through membership fees ($25/yr) and individual donations. Large projects - such as our video and radio ads - are funded through grants out of … [a research fund controlled by Barry Cooper], directed towards debate of climate science and which is also fed by the charitable Calgary Foundation." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/8/86/Google_FOS_Radio_Ads.pdf] The statement was repeated in an email from Friends of Science spokesperson Albert Jacobs to a SourceWatch contributor. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/9/9b/FOS_Email.pdf]
In a more recent email exchange from May, 2007, Albert Jacobs elaborated:
===Role of the Calgary Foundation and the University of Calgary===
====Calgary Foundation====
Calgary Foundation marketing director Kerry Longpré told Globe and Mail freelancer Charles Montgomery that she had never heard of the Friends of Science. "The foundation, she said, deals only with the [University of Calgary], which is left to administer donations as it sees fit." [http://www.charlesmontgomery.ca/mrcool.html]. According to the Calgary Foundation's 2006 report, the Science Education Fund is a "flow-through", donor-directed fund. [http://thecalgaryfoundation.org/pdf/FG2006Final.pdf] In an email dated March 16, 2007, Longpré forwarded a statement "further clarification of the grant making process at The Calgary Foundation." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/ac/FOS_Calgary_Foundation_Email.pdf]
The Calgary Foundation stated:
"The Science Education Fund is one of 364 Donor Advised Funds held at The Calgary Foundation. Its grant to the University of Calgary supports academic research in the science of global warming and the production of education modules, academic conferences and publications." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/b/b6/TCF_Science_Education_Fund_Statement.pdf]
The statement goes on to note the general requirements of Foundation grants:
====University of Calgary role====
In an [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/27/Uni_of_Calgary_email.pdf email dated February 15, 2007], External Vice-President Roman Cooney of the University of Calgary made the following public statements regarding the Friends of Science and Barry Cooper's climate change research fund.
"The University of Calgary does not provide funding for Friends of Science. There is no University of Calgary trust fund for Friends of Science. We do not endorse its work or its findings … The University of Calgary does not have a position on climate change, nor would it. As an independent, non-partisan research institution, the U of C insists on maintaining its neutrality.
"The fundamental principle is academic freedom … In this case, a group of scientists [i.e. the Friends of Science] holds a particular viewpoint and have advanced it publicly, with funding support from the external community. The fact that one of the scientists [i.e. political science professor Barry Cooper] is a faculty member here cannot be taken to conclude that the U of C supports that individual's research. The University of Calgary does not dictate to its professors the kind of research they will or will not do." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/27/Uni_of_Calgary_email.pdf ]
====U of C internal audit====
In response to persistent email queries concerning the Science Education Fund, Cooney referred questions concerning the details of Fund projects and spending to Barry Cooper, who is presumably the sole "funding applicant" and sole controller of the Science Education Fund and related "climate change research" funds. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/af/FOS_UofC_Email_2.pdf]. Then, in a later email (page 4 of the same exchange), Cooney referred all questions concerning the matter to the University's counsel, Linda Barry-Hollowell. In turn, Ms. Barry-Hollowell has announced an internal audit of Barry Cooper's research fund, but still maintained that concerns about the matter are "without factual foundation."
On March 29 (page 5 of the exchange), Ms. Barry Hollowell stated: "The Internal Auditor met Tuesday with key stakeholders and will be determining the scope of the audit and appropriate time frames for delivery of his report over the next few days. I will advise of his estimate as soon as I know and as soon as they are determined." Despite these assurances, the scope, timelines and outcome of the audit were not communicated.
====U of C severs FoS funding====
In an [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/a4/FOS_UofC_Email_3.pdf email dated December 24, 2007], U of C Legal Counsel Elizabeth Osler stated that the University would no longer accept donations for FoS:
"The University of Calgary has reviewed expenditures associated with two University research and trust accounts that were funded by donations accepted by the University from private donors acting on behalf of the Friends of Science. At the conclusion of its review, the University determined that some of the program funds had been used to support a partisan viewpoint on climate change, which made it necessary for the University to formally advise the Friends of Science that it would no longer accept funds on the organization's behalf."
==2006 election radio ads==
Before and during the 2006 Canadian federal election campaign, the Friends of Science ran a series of anti-Kyoto radio ads targeted at key Ontario ridings. The ads were funded through anonymous tax-deductible donations funneled through the Calgary Foundation and a University of Calgary "climate change research" trust fund controlled by professor Barry Cooper. Following an internal audit and review begun in March of 2007, the University determined that research funds accepted on behalf of the Friends of Science "had been used to support a partisan viewpoint on climate change" and cut off the FoS funding. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/a4/FOS_UofC_Email_3.pdf] On February 17, 2008, CanWest News Service confirmed that U of C officials had shut down Cooper's "'Research on Climate Change' trust account", and were about to advise Elections Canada of the University's ongoing review of the matter. [http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=b2307acc-cc2a-42dc-b562-3ed737847a4d&k=81087]
In the wake of the revelations, Liberal public works critic Mark Holland called for parliamentary hearings to investigate the source of donations.
[http://www.canada.com/topics/news/politics/story.html?id=f751d1a4-eb49-4ea3-80a1-7296bdb9ce6b&k=29112]
===Ad campaign funding===
The Friends of Science has repeatedly stated that "large projects, such as our video and radio ads" were funded by Barry Cooper's research fund, partially supported by the Science Education Fund. [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/8/86/Google_FOS_Radio_Ads.pdf] [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/9/9b/FOS_Email.pdf] In an email dated February 28, 2007, Roman Cooney of the University of Calgary stated: "I specifically asked Dr. [Barry] Cooper last week whether any of the funds received by the Friends of Science, the Science Education Fund, or any related organizations or funds for which a tax deduction for receipt of a donation was issued by the University of Calgary, were used in any election-related advertising or communication or activities not related to education or research. The answer was an unequivocal no." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/af/FOS_UofC_Email_2.pdf] However, this denial does not specifically address donations for which tax receipts were issued by the Calgary Foundation. It also rests on Barry Cooper's own definition of "activities not related to education or research", which may not correspond to an accepted objective or reasonable definition. Indeed, since then, the U of C has severed FoS funding and Barry Cooper's "Research on Climate Change" account was shut down, following a determination by the University "that some of the program funds had been used to support a partisan viewpoint on climate change." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/a/a4/FOS_UofC_Email_3.pdf][http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=b2307acc-cc2a-42dc-b562-3ed737847a4d&k=81087]
===Radio ad transcripts===
conference in Ottawa on the science of global climate change." [http://friendsofscience.org/assets/files/documents/2007%20Jan%20Newsletter%2012.pdf] Under pressure from the University of Calgary, the statement was revised to read: "Barry Cooper of the University of Calgary and Tim Patterson of Carleton University are arranging a conference in Ottawa on the science of global climate change." [http://friendsofscience.org/assets/files/documents/2007%20Jan%20Newsletter%2012(version%202).pdf]
In February, 2007, Roman Cooney issued the following statement in an e-mail: "The University of Calgary has long-standing and publicly-stated concerns about Friends of Science using the University of Calgary's name to infer that it has the University's endorsement. Our response has included cease-and-desist directives to the Friends of Science from the University's legal counsel. Most recently, following a reference to the University of Calgary in a newsletter from the head of Friends of Science … and under caution of legal action, I insisted that the Friends of Science provide the attached letter to clarify its relationship to the University of Calgary." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/27/Uni_of_Calgary_email.pdf]
The letter is dated January 23, 2007 and was sent to Roman Cooney and is signed by FoS president Douglas Leahey. The letter states in its entirety: "I wish to confirm that Friends of Science is not and has never been affiliated with the University of Calgary, nor does it receive, or has ever received, funding or support from the University of Calgary." [httphttps://www.sourcewatch.org/images/8/8b/Friends_of_Science_letter.pdf]
=="Friends of Science" (FoS) is not "Friends Of Science" (FOS)==