Empire Club of Canada Ottawa Event — Diagnosing and Combatting Health Misinformation: 2026 CMA Health & Media Tracking Survey Launch
14 snips
Feb 11, 2026 
David Skok, journalist on media trust; Vass Bednar, researcher on tech policy; Dr. Jen Gunter, physician and public health communicator; Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC director; David Coletto, pollster presenting the 2026 survey. They discuss rising health misinformation, shifting trust in sources, AI’s role in health queries, platform accountability, and policy and clinical responses to protect public information.
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Pseudoscience Crossing Borders
- Jen Gunter described U.S. pseudoscience mixing with politics and causing real public-health harms like measles outbreaks.
- She warned that Canada can't rely solely on U.S. institutions for reliable health guidance anymore.
Rising Skepticism Can Be Positive
- Awareness that information may be false is increasing, which signals public media-literacy recovery.
- This skepticism can redirect audiences toward trusted sources if those sources are available.
We Treated Digital Markets As 'Junk'
- Digital platforms have been treated as low-quality market products with weak regulatory guardrails.
- Canada must define the information markets it wants and enforce quality standards rather than defer to tech firms.
