Canadian taxpayers have been billed over $30 million to enrich diversity, equity and inclusion consultants across all federal departments since 2019.
True North analyzed a 400-page Inquiry of Ministry released to Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay detailing diversity, equity and inclusion contracts across dozens of federal ministries going back to Jan. 1, 2019.
Government contracts reveal a cabal of consultants trafficking in the dark arts of gender ideology, systemic racism theory and other ideological demagoguery.
Egregious spending by Ottawa ranges from contracts for sex change seminars at the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, pipe ceremonies at Correction Service Canada, Indigenous cooking and beadworking lessons and a batch of transgender pride flags.
The largest recipient of DEI spending was the Department of National Defence with the Liberal government dumping $9,326,278.67 to reform the Canadian military into an institution rooted in DEI ideology.
Broken down departmentally, Employment and Social Development Canada followed National Defence with $6,964,882.69, Parole Board of Canada with $2,268,488.46, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada with $2,136,725.44, and Canadian Heritage with $1,720,081.33.
The largest DEI contract worth $7.23 million was awarded to IBM Canada Limited for “professional support to aid in recruitment modernization” with a focus on diversity. Other hefty bills include $189,400 for Calian Ltd. to build “institutional gender-based analysis.”
Some of the most well-known names in the DEI industry were also employed by DND. Diversity and equity contracts signed by National Defence included a $22,600 guest speaker payout for Saint Mary’s University Social Justice professor Dr. Rachel Zellars in the form of a Black History Month celebration. The contract was signed off on Jan. 16, 2024.
The month before the contract was signed, Zellar gave a town hall event with DND executives where she told military leaders that the Canadian military was “completely infected” with white supremacy.
“White supremacy is a global problem that has completely infected our nation,” said Zellars. “It comes in all shapes and sizes, and cleans up real good.”
Another notorious anti-hate researcher feeding at the public trough was Ontario Tech University Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism Dr Barbara Perry. Perry received a total of $1,100.98 from DND to travel to an academic conference on hate in the Canadian Armed Forces and to meet with the Chief of the Defence Staff between 2019 and 2020.
Perry is known for controversially claiming that there were 300 hate groups active in Canada. To this day, Perry continues to refuse to publicly release her list.
Other spending includes bills amounting to $165.68 for “transgender pride flags” and $79.10 for “two gender-neutral signs.”
Military-adjacent departments like Veterans Affairs Canada and the Veterans Review and Appeal Board were also in the sights of Liberal DEI programming.
Veterans Affairs Canada signed off on a contract to Egale Canada worth $18,500 between 2020 and 2021 for “lesbian, gay bisexual, transgender queer (or sometimes questioning) intersexual, asexual and two-spirited cultural competency webinars.”
Meanwhile, the appeal board contracted DEI consultants for gender-inclusive non-binary writing workshops in French and English as well as $2,500 for an Indigenous beaded lanyard workshop by Experience Lennox Island on Aug. 11, 2023.
Even the Canadian Space Agency splurged $648,492 on DEI consultants.
Another top-spending ministry, ISED, paid out a hefty $18,645 contract to “energy expert and soul practitioner” Julie Richer for virtual “safe space discussions” involving 890 employees with the Spectrum and Telecommunications Sector.
“The Sector held several Safe Space discussions for its’ employees, with an objective to create space and provide resources for constructive and safe dialogue on structural racism, systemic racism and systemic discrimination,” the contract reads.
As for Correctional Service Canada, the department approved 181 different contracts related to DEI measures like webinars, training sessions, speakers and other services.
Sessions for correctional staff included traditional Indigenous dance workshops, a black history month performance from the Stalite Steelband, black history walks with Jacqueline L. Scott, grandmother traditional teachings from the “White Elk Medicine Woman” Rosie Trakostanec and pipe ceremony teachings.
CSC also paid for Kwanzaa lessons, “Afrocentric workshops”, a $6,000 session on “gender considerations” from Egale Canada and $3,390 for a workshop on “mental health black fatigue.”
Meanwhile, the Parole Board of Canada dished out a stunning $2,054,315.45 on Indigenous and black advisors as part of its culturally responsive hearing program which allows offenders to have an “elder or cultural advisor” at hand for their parole hearings.
As for the Public Prosecution Service, the department reported items like an “immersive seminar on Innuit Quajimajatuqangit awareness” as well as microaggression training seminars.
Performances were commonly billed items across multiple departments. For example, Public Safety Canada paid $2,000 for a Black History Month ceremony performance from the reggae group Raggaediction and a spoken word performance from Up From the Roots, Dwayne Morgan on Feb. 29, 2024.
Unlikely departments like Library Archives Canada and Agriculture Agri-Food Canada were also reporting DEI spending back to 2019. The department in charge of archives paid Dokis First Nation member John Henri Commanda $13,148 between 2023 and 2024 for Indigenous blanket exercises. As for the department in charge of Canada’s agriculture policies, AARC dished out hundreds on Indigenous network circle artwork events.
Surprisingly, departments that already focused on equity received the least DEI funding. For example, Indigenous Services Canada and Indian Oil and Gas only reported $4,030 in contracts. As for Accessibility Standards Canada, the final DEI bill was $5,748.75.
