Trudeau’s Latest Scandal: Billions in Indigenous Procurement Fraud Exposed in Explosive OGGO Committee 145

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Crystal Semaganis, the leader of the Ghost Warrior Society

Dan Knight

As Trudeau Dodges Accountability on Foreign Interference, His Government’s Systemic Corruption in Indigenous Procurement is Revealed—Witness: “Billions Stolen by Fake Indigenous Businesses”

This week, Justin Trudeau was grilled during the Hogue Inquiry on foreign interference—a spectacle where, despite all his smoke and bluster, no one was named as traitors. Classic Trudeau: all talk, no action. But while the Prime Minister was busy dodging accountability on the global stage, a new scandal was brewing right under our noses. It’s not just foreign interference, WE Charity, SNC-Lavalin, his Green Slush Fund, or ArriveCAN. Oh no, it’s much worse.

For someone who loves to virtue-signal about reconciliation, Trudeau’s record on actually helping Indigenous communities is crumbling. Yesterday’s Meeting No. 145 of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates (OGGO) tore apart the Liberal façade of caring about Indigenous rights. The truth? Fraud, corruption, and negligence are running rampant within Trudeau’s government, and it’s Indigenous people who are paying the price.

Witnesses from the Ghost Warrior Society and PLATO Testing exposed just how deep the rot goes. Crystal Semaganis, the leader of the Ghost Warrior Society, and Denis Carignan, president of PLATO Testing, laid out in chilling detail how fake Indigenous businesses are stealing billions of dollars meant for real Indigenous communities, all while Trudeau’s government sits back and lets it happen.

So, while Trudeau might want you to think he’s the champion of reconciliation, this committee revealed the real story: Trudeau’s corruption is systemic, and it’s Indigenous people who are being exploited. It’s time we dive into the committee and expose this latest chapter in the Trudeau scandal saga. Buckle up.

Trudeau’s Newest Scandal- Indigenous Procurement

The OGGO committee hearing on Indigenous procurement was supposed to be a moment of reckoning—a chance for the Trudeau government to finally come clean about the rampant fraud within its own ranks. Instead, what we witnessed was a masterclass in Liberal deflection, corruption, and the complete and total betrayal of the Indigenous communities Justin Trudeau pretends to care about.

This wasn’t just another day in Ottawa where Liberals paid lip service to reconciliation. Oh no, this committee meeting exposed the stunning hypocrisy at the heart of the Trudeau government. What the Liberals don’t want you to know is that billions of dollars—yes, billions—have been stolen by fake Indigenous businesses, all under the nose of the Trudeau government. And guess what? They’ve done nothing to stop it.

The star witness, Crystal Semaganis, leader of the Ghost Warrior Society, laid it out for everyone to see. These fraudulent actors—companies and individuals pretending to be Indigenous—have exploited a broken system where no one verifies Indigenous identity. According to Semaganis, billions of dollars in contracts meant to uplift Indigenous communities have been stolen by what she called “corporations posing as Indigenous Nations (CPIN).”

She even gave specific examples: one company alone has raked in $163 million since 1994 by pretending to be Indigenous. That’s right—$163 million. And how did this happen? Because the Trudeau government relies on an honor system for verifying Indigenous identity. You heard that right: an honor system. And because there’s no centralized system to authenticate claims, anyone can say they’re Indigenous, grab a few million in contracts, and laugh all the way to the bank.

Let’s be clear about what’s happening here: real Indigenous people are being robbed by these fraudsters, and the government is standing by, doing nothing. No oversight. No accountability. No legal consequences.

Larry Brock and Garnett Genuis: The Conservatives Fight Back

Thankfully, the Conservative MPs on this committee didn’t let Trudeau’s government get away with this fraud without a fight. Larry Brock (MP for Brantford—Brant) and Garnett Genuis (MP for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan) came out swinging, and they weren’t about to let the Liberals dodge accountability.

Brock, in particular, delivered a fiery takedown of the Liberal corruption machine. He pointed out that this kind of fraud doesn’t happen in a vacuum. No, this is part of a pattern of corruption that starts at the top—with Justin Trudeau himself. From WE Charity to SNC-Lavalin and now this Indigenous procurement scandal, it’s clear the Trudeau Liberals have made an art form out of covering up fraud and protecting their political cronies.

Brock wasn’t just making vague accusations—he linked it all together. He reminded the committee that, just like with ArriveCAN and WE Charity, the Liberals’ first instinct is always to protect their own. They obstruct, delay, and stall investigations until the truth is buried so deep that Canadians move on. But Brock wasn’t going to let this scandal go the same way. He grilled the witnesses, demanding answers on how these fake Indigenous entities could steal billions while the Trudeau government sat on its hands.

Garnett Genuis: “This government has a pattern of shutting down committees and avoiding accountability whenever it gets uncomfortable. They don’t want the truth, they want the scandal buried!”

Garnett Genuis, meanwhile, delivered the knockout punch. He didn’t mince words when he accused the Trudeau government of deliberately choosing not to act. Genuis pointed out that this fraud has been happening for years, and yet the government has refused to implement any kind of legal framework to stop it. Why? Because they benefit from the status quo. The fake Indigenous businesses walking away with billions in contracts? Many of them have deep connections within the Liberal Party. It’s not just negligence—it’s complicity.

The Liberal Stall: A Pattern of Dodging Accountability

But what did the Liberal MPs do in response to these explosive revelations? Did they express outrage? Did they vow to put an end to this fraud? Of course not. Instead, they did what Liberals always do when caught in a scandal: stall and deflect.

Sameer Zuberi, Jenica Atwin, and Majid Jowhari spent their time filibustering, offering vague platitudes about “improving the process” and “working together” to help Indigenous communities. Zuberi, the MP for Pierrefonds—Dollard, tried to steer the conversation toward how the government could improve future Indigenous business opportunities, conveniently sidestepping the massive fraud happening right now under his government’s watch.

Atwin, MP for Fredericton, delivered a particularly pathetic performance, rambling about reconciliation without once addressing the real issue of billions being stolen. And Majid Jowhari MP for Richmond Hill? Well, he focused on processes and frameworks, pretending the fraud revelations weren’t even the central issue.

These Liberals weren’t interested in getting to the bottom of this scandal. They were only interested in running out the clock, hoping the committee would end before anyone could connect the dots between this fraud and Trudeau’s corruption.

Final Thoughts

Let’s stop pretending that Justin Trudeau and his Liberals are going to do anything about this. They won’t. They’ve been caught red-handed, allowing billions to be stolen from Indigenous communities by fraudulent actors, and their only response has been to stall, deflect, and cover up. That’s their playbook. But we can’t let them get away with it.

It’s time for the opposition to step up—to do what this government refuses to do. The Conservatives, like Larry Brock and Garnett Genuis, need to pull the rug off this scandal and shine a light on the rot that’s taken hold of Indigenous procurement. We can’t let this cancer of corruption continue to fester under the surface while Trudeau and his cronies pat themselves on the back for their so-called reconciliation.

This isn’t just about fraud—it’s about honor and patriotism. We owe it to the Indigenous communities of this country to fight for them when their government won’t. We owe it to every hardworking taxpayer who sees their dollars funneled into fraudulent schemes, enriching those who know how to game the system. This is a battle for the soul of Canada, and it’s a battle that the opposition must take head-on.

If we believe in truth, if we believe in justice, then we can’t stop until every fake Indigenous business, every fraudulent actor, and every Liberal enabler is exposed. The cancer must be cut out. Canada deserves better. Our Indigenous people deserve better. And it’s time to hold this government to account, once and for all.

The opposition has a duty to tear down the curtain and show Canadians what’s really going on behind Trudeau’s façade of virtue-signaling. This isn’t just about politics—it’s about the future of our country, and the integrity of our government.

It’s time to act. Pull the rug off, expose the cancer, and take our country back.

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Agriculture

It’s time to end supply management

Published on March 23, 2025

Todayville

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Ian Madsen

Ending Canada’s dairy supply management system would lower costs, boost exports, and create greater economic opportunities.

The Trump administration’s trade warfare is not all bad. Aside from spurring overdue interprovincial trade barrier elimination and the removal of obstacles to energy corridors, it has also spotlighted Canada’s dairy supply management system.

The existing marketing board structure is a major hindrance to Canada’s efforts to increase non-U.S. trade and improve its dismal productivity growth rate—crucial to reviving stagnant living standards. Ending it would lower consumer costs, make dairy farming more dynamic, innovative and export-oriented, and create opportunities for overseas trade deals.

Politicians sold supply management to Canadians to ensure affordable milk and dairy products for consumers without costing taxpayers anything—while avoiding unsightly dumping surplus milk or sudden price spikes. While the government has not paid dairy farmers directly, consumers have paid more at the supermarket than their U.S. neighbours for decades.

An October 2023 C.D. Howe Institute analysis showed that, over five years, the Canadian price for four litres of partly skimmed milk generally exceeded the U.S. price (converted to Canadian dollars) by more than a dollar, sometimes significantly more, and rarely less.

A 2014 study conducted by the University of Manitoba, published in 2015, found that lower-income households bore an extra burden of 2.3 per cent of their income above the estimated cost for free-market-determined dairy and poultry products (i.e., vs. non-supply management), amounting to $339 in 2014 dollars ($435 in current dollars). Higher-income households paid an additional 0.5 per cent of their income, or $554 annually in 2014 dollars ($712 today).

One of the pillars of the current system is production control, enforced by production quotas for every dairy farm. These quotas only gradually rise annually, despite abundant production capacity. As a result, millions of litres of milk are dumped in some years, according to a 2022 article by the Montreal Economic Institute.

Beyond production control, minimum price enforcement further entrenches inefficiency. Prices are set based on estimated production costs rather than market forces, keeping consumer costs high and limiting competition.

Import restrictions are the final pillar. They ensure foreign producers do not undercut domestic ones. Jaime Castaneda, executive vice-president of the U.S. National Milk Producers Federation, complained that the official 2.86 per cent non-tariffed Canadian import limit was not reached due to non-tariff barriers. Canadian tariffs of over 250 per cent apply to imports exceeding quotas from the European Union, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, or USMCA).

Dairy import protection obstructs efforts to reach more trade deals. Defending this system forces Canada to extend protection to foreign partners’ favoured industries. Affected sectors include several where Canada is competitive, such as machinery and devices, chemicals and plastics, and pharmaceuticals and medical products. This impedes efforts to increase non-U.S. exports of goods and services. Diverse and growing overseas exports are essential to reducing vulnerability to hostile U.S. trade policy.

It may require paying dairy farmers several billion dollars to transition from supply management—though this cartel-determined “market” value is dubious, as the current inflation-adjusted book value is much lower—but the cost to consumers and the economy is greater. New Zealand successfully evolved from a similar import-protected dairy industry into a vast global exporter. Canada must transform to excel. The current system limits Canada’s freedom to find greener pastures.

Ian Madsen is the Senior Policy Analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Business

A Look at Canada’s Import Tariffs

Published on March 23, 2025

Todayville

By David Clinton

Speaking of foreign tariffs, Canada’s hands are not exactly clean

It’s one thing to oppose the various iterations of recently threatened U.S. tariffs: many of those carry the potential to inflict serious harm on Canada and Canadians and we’re right to be nervous. However, whether or not Canada’s many external-facing policies use the term tariff in their titles, we have more than a few protectionist trade barriers of our own. I thought it would be useful to list some of Canada’s more obvious protectionist policies.

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Unfortunately, one thing these examples lack is context. It’s no secret that international trade is complicated. Some of the trade barriers I’m going to describe are policy responses to legitimate safety issues. And, even among those restrictions that were designed to protect local industries, I couldn’t usefully estimate whether there are enough of them to define our total trade ecosystem.Nevertheless, here’s what I did find.The Customs Tariff Act governs Canada’s import tariffs. All goods entering Canada from countries on the Most-Favored-Nation list that aren’t eligible for lower rates through trade agreements are subject to tariff charges as high as 17 percent. Here are some practical cases of imports from the U.S. that aren’t covered by the CUSMA trade agreement:

U.S. t-shirts using imported fabric could face an 18 percent tariff, adding $18,000 to a $100,000 shipment.
A $30,000 U.S.-assembled car with Asian parts incurs $1,830 in duties.
$50,000 of U.S. strawberries could face $4,250 in seasonal duties if applied.
$200,000 of steel wire from the U.S. could face $108,000 in extra anti-dumping duties.

Canada’s supply management system for dairy, poultry, and eggs is a notorious example of a policy that looks, walks, and quacks just like ~~a duck~~ an import tariff. Supply management is governed by a combination of federal and provincial laws, including the Export and Import Permits Act and the Farm Products Agencies Act. Regulations can hit over-quota imported cheese with rates as high as 245.5 percent and chicken can be taxed at 238 percent. And that’s assuming you somehow manage to score an import permit from Global Affairs Canada.The Canadian Food Inspection Agency enforces strict sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures that often require layers of inspections or certification requirements that can significantly raise compliance costs. The differences between some of those requirements and an economic tariff are not always obvious.The Canada Border Services Agency collects an excise tax on imported liquor. For example, a U.S. exporter looking to ship 100 litres of 40 percent ABV whiskey to Canada will face a duty of $467.84 (100 × 0.4 × $11.696). That duty must be paid by the importer.In addition, various provincial liquor control boards apply fees and markup costs on imported alcohol, which effectively create price barriers for foreign products (when they’re even allowed on store shelves).Book Importation Regulations limit parallel imports of foreign editions in order to protect Canadian publishers. I assume this is why so many major international publishing companies maintain Canadian offices and, on paper at least (so to speak), publish special Canadian editions.The various Canadian Content (CanCon) rules governing broadcast media will also undermine the principle of free trade, even if those rules won’t necessarily increase import costs.Here are some examples of regulatory compliance rules that aren’t always just about safety:

Electrical product safety certification rules sometimes requires foreign electronics manufacturers to repeat testing despite already having UL certification, adding 3-6 months to market entry.
US medical device companies can face duplication of regulatory submissions and maintenance of separate quality systems due to Health Canada requirements.
Chemical manufacturers must submit detailed testing data specific to Canadian requirements in order to register their products.
Small US food producers must implement separate packaging lines for Canadian-bound products to satisfy nutrition labeling requirements.

This isn’t to say there’s necessarily anything morally wrong with any of those rules. And, as I noted, I’m not sure whether Canada’s overall trade profile is more restrictive than our international peers. But, when faced with foreign tariffs, it can’t be said that Canada’s hands are perfectly clean.

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