Frontier Centre for Public Policy
The Great Canadian Hoax exposed

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Grave Error: How The Media Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools) edited by C.P. Champion and Tom Flanagan, Truth North and Dorchester Review, 343pp, $21.99) is a companion volume to Frontier’s From Truth Comes Reconciliation, which was published in 2021 (second edition is forthcoming). The two reviews published here are by Colin Alexander and Peter Best. The book demonstrates that there is no forensic evidence of Indian Residential School children that have been murdered and buried in residential school yards. There are a number of reasons for not believing the claim that children were murdered in these schools. Canadians are anxious to know the truth about the schools, and this book along with Frontier’s book go a long way to dispel the myths that have developed about the murder of residential school children. The book has been a top seller on Amazon since it was published in early January 2024.
This scholarly book of essays demolishes the narrative that any children went missing from Indian residential schools (IRS), let alone thousands, or that there are mass graves. Grave Error, in fact, debunks what essayist Jonathan Kay calls “a media-fuelled social panic over unmarked graves.” Mainstream media around the world—not just in Canada—ran with this press release issued on May 27, 2021:
This past weekend, with the help of a ground penetrating radar [GPR] specialist, the stark truth of the preliminary findings became known – the confirmation of the remains of 215 children who were students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School [KRS]. …
To our knowledge, these missing children are undocumented deaths,” stated Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir. “Some were as young as three years old. …
Mainstream news media and politicians took the press release to heart, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lowering flags on federal buildings to half-mast for six long months. So debauched have the Enlightenment’s principles of inquiry become, along with those of responsible journalism, that it took outsiders to question the truth of this release.
Yes, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) found disturbed ground in the orchard near the school. That is because the land had buried drainage tiles from a septic system that had been installed in 1924. In any case, except for orphans and those whose upbringing was beyond their parents’ capacity, the IRS required a minimum age of six for admission.
No children were murdered and buried surreptitiously at night. Schools were paid on a headcount of children, so there was not a single name unaccounted for. There is a death certificate for every death, with burials either in the nearby cemetery or returned to their reserves. TB and other communicable diseases rampant everywhere caused most IRS deaths a century ago. Since the introduction of antibiotics, the death toll has been much lower. Many graves in recognized cemeteries are unmarked because the customarily used wooden crosses deteriorated over time. Despite that, in December 2021, Canadian Press called unmarked graves the story of the year!
Len Marchand’s autobiography, Breaking the Trail, provides an antidote for the horror stories at KRS. A former attendee during the time of the alleged murders and burials, he became Canada’s first Indigenous cabinet minister. The worst he says of his time there was that meals included mushy potatoes.
Essayist Ian Gentles says the juggernaut of misinformation began with the CBC program The Journal on October 30, 1990. Interviewed by Barbara Frum, Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, said he had been physically and sexually abused at his school. This led to a tsunami of former IRS attendees asserting similar allegations. Unfortunately, Ms. Frum did not ask who perpetrated the abuse, whether staff or fellow students. Or why he did not make a complaint to the police. I emailed Mr. Fontaine asking those questions but without receiving an answer.
Some essayists accept the proposition that there were real atrocities. I am not sure they were widespread. There were only a few successful prosecutions reported by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. There are probably some abuses at boarding schools. Was it really an atrocity to cut an IRS attendee’s hair on arrival or to exchange a uniform for an orange shirt? Essayist and former staff member at Stringer Hall in Inuvik, Rodney Clifton, has described children on their return after the summer break with their families. They were often in poor physical condition, and some were still wearing the clothing, unwashed in the meantime, that they left the school with.
Essayist Tom Flanagan scores a bull’s-eye when quoting John Ioannidis, medical researcher at Stanford University: “The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true.” With money almost unlimited for Indigenous issues, a multi-billion-dollar industry has grown out of pleading for money and telling Indigenous youth to feel sorry for themselves. By extension, the industry has prospered from laying guilt on schoolchildren and taxpayers. As shown in Lonely Death of an Ojibwa Boy by Robert MacBain, that includes what I construe to be a fraud, the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack charity.
I also disagree with essayists saying the Indigenous were dealt a bad hand, let alone that they need new treaties. What about the previously downtrodden Asian Canadians who have surpassed their white counterparts in incomes? Yes, Canada welcomed Indians into the armed forces for the Boer Wars and the two World Wars, only to treat them like dirt when the wars ended. But today there has been a role-reversal. Now Indigenous leaders can say whatever they want, and no one calls them out on saying outrageous things.
To me, the failure of Canada’s Indigenous policy derives from the excesses of the welfare state which, since the demise of the fur trade, destroyed self-reliance and work ethic—Indigenous cultures were destroyed, if you will. Now Canadians kowtow to demands for renewed tribalism and self-determination resembling South Africa’s apartheid. That would give leaders prestige and money for doing little. For followers, it connotes marginalization and second-class citizenship. No one is considering the needs of next generations living in violence-wracked settlements having no economic reason to exist, and in urban slums. It eludes notice that those who are educated and skilled and engaged in or preparing for rewarding employment seldom become addicts or commit suicide, and they seldom go to jail.
The billions paid out for the IRS and mass graves hoaxes are not delivering acceptable housing or any other help that works. I know an unemployed and all but unemployable Inuk who got a cheque for $95,000 in April 2023. By July he had blown it all and was again scrounging for cigarettes. Many billions add to GDP and salve a nation’s conscience. But enriching prostitutes and drug dealers does not address real needs.
That said, there are templates, notably in Asia, for raising Third World peoples into the First World in a single generation. I recommend Grave Error as a starting point for radically different thinking about what needs to be done to help Indigenous Canadians succeed in our country.
Colin Alexander was publisher of the Yellowknife News of the North for many years, and the advisor on education for Ontario’s Royal Commission on the Northern Environment. His latest book is Justice on Trial: Jordan Peterson’s case and others show we need to fix a broken legal system.
Business
Canada Urgently Needs A Watchdog For Government Waste

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
By Ian Madsen
From overstaffed departments to subsidy giveaways, Canadians are paying a high price for government excess
Not all the Trump administration’s policies are dubious. One is very good, in theory at least: the Department of Government Efficiency. While that term could be an oxymoron, like ‘political wisdom,’ if DOGE is useful, so may be a Canadian version.
DOGE aims to identify wasteful, duplicative, unnecessary or destructive government programs and replace outdated data systems. It also seeks to lower overall costs and ensure mechanisms are in place to evaluate proposed programs for effectiveness and value for money. This can, and usually does, involve eliminating some departments and, eventually, thousands of jobs. Some new roles within DOGE may need to become permanent.
The goal in the U.S. is to lower annual operating costs and ensure that the growth in government spending is lower than in revenues. Washington’s spending has exploded in recent years. The U.S. federal deficit exceeds six per cent of gross domestic product. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, annual debt service cost is escalating unsustainably.
Canada’s latest budget deficit of $61.9 billion in fiscal 2023–24 is about two per cent of GDP, which seems minor compared to our neighbour. However, it adds to the federal debt of $1.236 trillion, about 41 per cent of our approximate $3 trillion GDP. Ottawa’s public accounts show that expenses are 17.8 per cent of GDP, up from about 14 per cent just eight years ago. Interest on the escalating debt were 10.2 per cent of revenues in the most recent fiscal year, up from just five per cent a mere two years ago.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) continually identifies dubious or frivolous spending and outright waste or extravagance: “$30 billion in subsidies to multinational corporations like Honda, Volkswagen, Stellantis and Northvolt. Federal corporate subsidies totalled $11.2 billion in 2022 alone. Shutting down the federal government’s seven regional development agencies would save taxpayers an estimated $1.5 billion annually.”
The CTF also noted that Ottawa hired 108,000 more staff in the past eight years at an average annual cost of over $125,000. Hiring in line with population growth would have added only 35,500, saving about $9 billion annually. The scale of waste is staggering. Canada Post, the CBC and Via Rail lose, in total, over $5 billion a year. For reference, $1 billion would buy Toyota RAV4s for over 25,600 families.
Ottawa also duplicates provincial government functions, intruding on their constitutional authority. Shifting those programs to the provinces, in health, education, environment and welfare, could save many more billions of dollars per year. Bad infrastructure decisions lead to failures such as the $33.4 billion squandered on what should have been a relatively inexpensive expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline—a case where hiring better staff could have saved money. Terrible federal IT systems, exemplified by the $4 billion Phoenix payroll horror, are another failure. The Green Slush Fund misallocated nearly $900 million.
Ominously, the fast-growing Old Age Supplement and Guaranteed Income Security programs are unfunded, unlike the Canada Pension Plan. Their costs are already roughly equal to the deficit and could become unsustainable.
Canada is sleepwalking toward financial perdition. A Canadian version of DOGE—Canada Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Team, or CAETT—is vital. The Auditor General Office admirably identifies waste and bad performance, but is not proactive, nor does it have enforcement powers. There is currently no mechanism to evaluate or end unnecessary programs to ensure Canadians will have a prosperous and secure future. CAETT could fill that role.
Ian Madsen is the Senior Policy Analyst at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
Energy
Federal Clean Power Plan Risks Blackouts And Higher Bills

From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy
Ottawa’s Clean Electricity Regulations could derail Canada’s energy future. Here’s what we need to do
The federal government’s push to make Canada’s electricity system net-zero is running straight into reality—and it’s not pretty.
Through the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER), the government wants all provinces to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation by 2035. It is an ambitious goal, but one that ignores a basic fact: demand for electricity is exploding, and provinces are struggling to keep up.
New technologies like artificial intelligence are supercharging this demand. AI systems, including tools such as ChatGPT, rely on massive data centres—huge warehouses of computer servers that need constant cooling and enormous amounts of electricity to function. According to a recent Royal Bank of Canada report, if all proposed data centre projects in Canada move ahead, they would consume 14 per cent of the country’s entire electricity supply by 2030. That is roughly the same as projections in the United States, where data centres are expected to use up to 15 per cent of the national total.
This is a serious problem. Provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan have already raised the alarm, arguing that the federal regulations overstep Ottawa’s constitutional authority. Energy supply, like natural resources, has traditionally been under provincial control. Alberta and Ontario operate their own electricity markets to attract investment and ensure reliability. Federal regulations threaten to undermine these efforts, adding risk and driving up costs.
The situation is already tense. Alberta, for example, issued multiple grid alerts in 2024 due to shortages and market disruptions. The province is now looking at “behind-the-fence” power solutions, encouraging data centres to generate their own electricity to guarantee stability.
Canada was not always in this bind. For decades, we enjoyed an abundance of clean, affordable hydroelectric power. Provinces like Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador built massive hydro projects starting in the 1960s, creating cheap power and even surpluses to export to U.S. markets. In 2022, for example, B.C. sent 74 per cent of its exported power to the U.S., while Quebec sent 63 per cent and Ontario an impressive 81 per cent, generating billions in revenue.
But that era is coming to an end. Most of the best sites for hydro dams have already been developed. New projects would require expensive, long-distance transmission lines to bring power from remote areas to the cities that need it. On top of that, growing environmental concerns make new dam construction an uphill battle.
The truth is, there is no quick fix. A 2025 study by the Fraser Institute paints a grim picture: to meet future electricity demand solely with solar power would require 1,680 years of construction. Wind power? About 1,150 years. Even hydro would take close to a millennium. Even if we combined these sources, we are still looking at more than 1,000 years to build enough capacity.
Meanwhile, federal projections estimate that Canada’s electricity demand will double by 2050.
Without significant policy changes, Canadians could soon face the worst of both worlds: soaring electricity bills and the threat of power shortages. Our economy could also suffer as companies and data centres look to other jurisdictions with more reliable power supplies.
So what should Canada do? Here are three practical steps:
- Scrap the Clean Electricity Regulations. Provinces like Alberta and Saskatchewan are already committed to reaching net-zero by 2050. Federal interference only creates unnecessary political battles and delays investments.
- Fast-track approvals for new interprovincial transmission lines. Today, building a new transmission line can take more than a decade. Speeding up this process would help provinces share power and avoid costly overbuilding of generation capacity.
- Launch a major low-interest loan program to build new power infrastructure. We need to dramatically expand our generation and transmission systems, including natural gas-fired plants, to meet future demand.
Canadians deserve a reliable, affordable and clean energy future. But we will not get there by ignoring the realities of rising demand and provincial responsibilities. It is time for the federal government to listen to the provinces, embrace practical solutions and avoid an avoidable crisis.
Otherwise, we are on track for blackouts, higher bills and missed economic opportunities.
Maureen McCall is an energy business analyst and Fellow at the Frontier Center for Public Policy. She writes on energy issues for EnergyNow and the BOE Report. She has 20 years of experience as a business analyst for national and international energy companies in Canada.
-
Energy1 day ago
Many Canadians—and many Albertans—live in energy poverty
-
International1 day ago
Pope Francis has died aged 88
-
2025 Federal Election13 hours ago
Ottawa Confirms China interfering with 2025 federal election: Beijing Seeks to Block Joe Tay’s Election
-
Business1 day ago
Canada Urgently Needs A Watchdog For Government Waste
-
Energy1 day ago
Indigenous-led Projects Hold Key To Canada’s Energy Future
-
2025 Federal Election1 day ago
Carney’s budget means more debt than Trudeau’s
-
International23 hours ago
JD Vance was one of the last people to meet Pope Francis
-
2025 Federal Election12 hours ago
How Canada’s Mainstream Media Lost the Public Trust