In the strategic and apparently puposeful deception of a trusting public, Alberta’s Oil Patch Daily (a.k.a., the Calgary Herald) and University of Calgary political science Professor Barry Cooper are exuberant co-conspirators.

Reasonable evidence appears in the column that Cooper pens weekly for the Herald, a pulpit that he used most recently to accuse actual climate scientists of committing “ethical transgressions” because they continue to share research pointing to the greatest environmental catastrophe in human history.

For a ready reference to Cooper’s own ethical standards, it might be interesting to check out the University of Calgary’s audit of his activities in support of the oily climate change denial group, the Friends of Science.

The Alberta Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has forced the University of Calgary to re-release part of an audit report, overruling censored information about a university payment to a PR firm that helped prepare and distribute a climate change denial video.

The audit report - censored and uncensored versions of which are attached - states that the University of Calgary paid APCO Worldwide more than $170,000 for "advice regarding video production, promotion of the video, distribution of the video, media relations services and other services." These payments violated university policy on several levels and are also suspected of having broken federal tax laws.

Updating the story about the University of Calgary's damning audit of its relationship with the Friends of Science, U of C general counsel Charlene Anderson told the Calgary Herald yesterday that no disciplinary action is planned "at this time," but "that might change at any time so the university is looking into that."

A University of Calgary audit into its relationship with the climate lobby group, Friends of Science (FOS), suggests that in setting up two trust funds on behalf of FOS, U of C Professor Barry Cooper likely contravened Revenue Canada and Elections Canada laws - and, in diverting money to his wife and daughter, most certainly broke rules at the University itself.

Attached are the University of Calgary Press Release and the official Audit into allegations that U of C Professor Barry Cooper was using a university slush fund to direct anonymous cash to the Calgary-based climate change denier group, Friends of Science.

In continuing to run the "opinions" of the tainted University of Calgary Professor Barry Cooper, the Calgary Herald, newspaper of record in the Alberta oil capital, demonstrates a lack of concern for accountability, integrity and accuracy.

Prof. Cooper won national fame by setting up a University of Calgary slush fund through which oil companies could give money to climate change deniers without having to account for the donations or admit their association. When the scheme was discovered, the University shut it down, but that hasn't stopped the Herald from continuing to employ Cooper as a columnist - and from presenting his work as if it is accurate and unsullied by bias.