Liberals spent millions on vaccine insights and opinion research to shape public behaviour

In its 23rd annual report, the Government of Canada detailed spending on public opinion research activities, with millions dedicated to “research projects executed by departments and the roles of key stakeholders involved.”

The total cost was $19.4 million across 36 government departments.

Only four departments invested millions in these activities. The Public Health Agency of Canada led with a staggering $3.5 million, followed by the Privy Council Office at $2.2 million, Health Canada at nearly $2.1 million, and the Canada Revenue Agency, known for its frustrating bureaucracy, at $1.2 million.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and Health Canada oversee the nation’s health policy, disease prevention, and regulatory functions. However, they have come under intense criticism and mistrust due to their poor handling of the COVID-19 response under the leadership of Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam and Health Ministers – first, Patty Hajdu, followed by Yves Duclos, and now, Mark Holland.

The majority of PHAC’s research focused on national vaccine coverage, with significant funds allocated to various surveys and studies, including $293,000 for childhood COVID-19 immunization, $300,000 for estimating post-acute COVID-19 vaccine conditions, and other research on diverse populations, such as “coverage in the 2SLGBTQI+ and Men Who Have Sex With Men” communities, as well as vaccination promotion campaigns.

The result of the “Estimation of Post-Acute Conditions Associated With COVID-19 Vaccine Impact and Effectiveness Among Children and Adolescents in Canada,” was a two page brief that concluded “low confidence” in the findings, limited evidence, lack of peer review and risk of bias. “Peer-reviewed longer-term prospective studies are needed,” was the $300,000 result.

Speaking of COVID-19 vaccines, as reported by the Hill Times, the “more recent instance of public opinion influencing government direction was during the pandemic when it came to decisions around mandates and the COVID-19 vaccination program,” said assistant professor at Queen’s University, Eugene Lang. He “suggested that during the pandemic, public opinion polling—especially regarding those hesitant to get vaccinated—likely had a big impact on how the federal government conducted itself.”

Lang furthered that government communication (i.e. messaging) “can be a substitute for policy, or part of the policy when trying to change the population’s behaviour.”

Indeed, Canada’s health agencies aimed to modify public behaviour to align with evolving "science,” which turned out to be based on hysteria rather than evidence-based research.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus confirmed this occurred throughout the COVID pandemic, and even spawned the creation of a new behavioural sciences unit.

WHO roundtables revealed that Canada has long led behavioural change initiatives, while Theresa Tam has been using extensive data collection and psychological operations to enforce compliance since the pandemic began.

During a “Behavioural Science for Better Health” strategic roundtable, Tam refers to APPs that nudge people toward healthy behaviour & rewards them w badges. Ties this in with Gov looking to regulate social mediahttps://t.co/T1ZAS1uTQi pic.twitter.com/9RjOUADOB0

— Tamara Ugolini 🇨🇦 (@TamaraUgo) June 24, 2022

This misuse of taxpayer dollars, to fund research on the same public these departments want to shape the behaviour of, raises serious concerns about the goals of government but also spending accountability. Especially when it results in low-confidence findings and questionable policy outcomes.