Travel and hospitality costs at the agency hit a record $4.7 million in 2017-2018, more than double the previous year's sum. Some 1,200 scientists signed a 2016 protest letter to then-health minister Jane Philpott, demanding a web-based meeting system be abandoned. Alain Beaudet, former CIHR president, reversed course in 2016 and abandoned a plan for 'virtual' meetings of scientists. A scientist who helped lead the 2016 protest against virtual meetings said face-to-face meetings are worth the cost. But questions have continued to swirl around expenses incurred by cabinet ministers, senators, governors general and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even as more mandated information about travel and hospitality costs is posted online.

Source: CBC News December 07, 2018 09:00 UTC