3 Weeks Into Pandemic, Expert Decries Misinformation

CBC didn't tell us about Timothy Caulfield's government funding.

Click image to watch Part 2 of Rodney Palmer’s testimony to the National Citizens Inquiry. Part 1 is here.

I’ve previously observed that an earthquake took place on May 18th. That was the day in which not one, not two, but three people with extensive media credentials testified at the National Citizens Inquiry.

Between them, Marianne Klowak, Anita Krishna, and Rodney Palmer represent 80 years of journalistic experience - acquired at CBC Winnipeg, Vancouver’s Global News, and various domestic and foreign postings. These people know what journalism is supposed to do. Independently, each of them condemned what journalism has now become. History may view this as a pivotal moment.

Understanding how the mainstream media betrayed the public during the pandemic helps us make sense of the way the media misrepresented the truckers. That was no isolated event. It was a symptom of a larger problem.

Rodney Palmer left journalism 20 years ago. But he was in the thick of things for the 20 years prior to that, including as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, India, and China - the latter during the 2003 SARS outbreak. Part 1 of his testimony to the National Citizens Inquiry - delivered March 30th - is well worth an hour of your time.

On May 18th, the same day Marianne and Anita testified, Rodney returned with Part 2. Over the course of 30-minutes he outlined how Canada’s national broadcaster relied on a group of supposedly “independent” COVID experts for its television and radio broadcasts, as well as its online print articles. What CBC didn’t didn’t tell us is that these experts were government funded.

Timothy Caulfield is a prime example. He’s an Edmonton lawyer and law professor, who specializes in health policy. He hasn’t personally earned a PhD in any medical field. Nevertheless, much of his time over the past few years has been spent ‘fact-checking’ those who have.

In what must have been one of the fastest grant applications ever processed, Professor Caulfield was awarded $380k from the federal and Alberta governments. An Edmonton Journal news story told us he would use that money not merely to study misinformation but to wage war against it, especially “misinformation around cures or treatments for COIVD-19.”

Click image to read the full news story.

Rodney invites us to notice the date on which that funding was announced: April 2nd. Of 2020. The pandemic was only three weeks old. We didn’t know much about anything at that point. How, exactly, could a law professor already be an expert on medical treatments for a virus we were being told humanity had never encountered before?

Professor Caulfield is quoted in that news article saying this:

It really is astounding the degree to which misinformation has played a dominant role really in the pandemic.

Here’s another quote from him:

It causes real harm, you know, people have died as a result of misinformation associated with the pandemic. It may result in people wasting time, money and energy, you know, on things that don’t work. [all bolding added by me]

Three weeks in, Professor Caulfield - who had treated exactly zero COVID patients - was certain he knew which medications worked and which didn’t. He was certain people had already perished due to wrongthink.

Three weeks in, Professor Caulfield had appointed himself arbiter of the truth - over and above anything family physicians, ICU doctors, virologists, immunologists, or epidemiologists might say.

Arrogant opportunist is one term that comes to mind.

to be continued

• Marianne Klowak’s testimony is here

• Anita Krishna’s testimony is here

• Rodney Palmer’s May 18th testimony is here (his March 30 testimony is here)