Elections Canada to Investigate Friends of Science

onFeb 17, 2008 @ 14:50 PST

DeSmogBlog Laid Complaint; CanWest sets out the Case

Responding to a complaint that DeSmogBlog manager Kevin Grandia submitted late last year, Elections Canada is reported to be on the trail of the energy industry front group Friends of Science (FOS).

The DeSmog complaint pointed to FOS‘s own materials in stating the case. It is the law in Canada that anyone who spends more than $500 on advocacy advertising during an election must register with elections Canada. FOS siphoned $200,000 through a University of Calgary trust fund (courtesy of Barry Cooper, inset), didn’t register, and boasted afterwards that they had helped swing key Ontario ridings to allow for the minority victory of Conservative party leader and current Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

The first mainstream media coverage of this story appeared today in this very thorough Edmonton Journal story.

By Richard Littlemore

Analysis

Alberta Utility Bills Are Set To Spike And Data Centres Are To Blame

ByMitch Anderson

onJul 20, 2026 @ 12:33 PDT

Albertans pay the highest electricity rates in the country and new gas plants for AI data centres could drive costs up further.

How Big Oil Spent Decades Selling the Myth of ‘Clean’ Natural Gas

BySarah Hofmann

onJul 20, 2026 @ 07:05 PDT

A new report reveals oil and gas companies knew as early as the mid-1970s that methane fueled climate change while launching massive PR campaigns to promote natural gas as clean energy.