Justin Trudeau’s bizarre plan to spend $9 million on edible crickets backfires

Justin Trudeau’s bizarre plan to invest nearly $9 million in an edible cricket factory has backfired after the company laid off two-thirds of its workforce.

The Canadian prime minister, 52, invested $8.5 million in sovereign wealth funds into Aspire Food Group in June 2022 to help “develop innovative ways to meet demand for more sustainably grown food,” a press release said at the time.

Last year, the London, Ontario, plant opened its 150,000-square-foot facility that would house 4 billion crickets at a time and produce 13 million kilograms of edible cricket protein per year, according to The National Post.

However, according to CEO David Rosenberg, the company has laid off 100 of its 150 employees.

Rosenberg said the company will “hire again in July” and reduce production lines to “four times a week instead of two shifts every day,” he said. AgFunderNews (AFN).

“The company has reduced its workforce, mainly in manufacturing, while these changes – an updated design of the way the crickets live in their habitat – have been implemented,” he told AFN.

“We had crickets everywhere,” he said The London Free Press.

Employees told AFN they received a “termination letter” “after our shift,” which was a “shocking” move.

Last year, the plant in London, Ontario, opened its 150,000-square-foot facility that would house 4 billion crickets at a time and produce 13 million kilograms of edible cricket protein per year.

“It’s devastating, honestly. Most of us have families and we have to pay rent,” one worker told The London Free Press. “Production has been up and down.”

Another employee told The Free Press that they were not offered severance and that some employees are considering legal action.

“They told us they had run out of funding and we are not getting anything,” they added.

However, Rosenberg said that “everyone will be treated well by us” and that they would receive severance pay.

‘We’re almost out of funding. The economics of keeping people until July didn’t work. It’s tough, but it has to be done.’

According to AFN, about 25 percent of the company’s funding came from the Canadian government, while 30 percent came from a loan. The rest came from equity.

Aspire’s product is largely used in pet food supplied in North America, but they were working on deals to get it into human food as well, then-CEO Mohammed Ashour told AFN in March 2023.

The company should be operating at 100 percent capacity by early 2024 and have enough orders to maintain production.

According to CEO David Rosenberg, the company has laid off 100 of its 150 employees. Rosenberg said the company will “hire again in July” and reduce production lines to “four times a week instead of two shifts every day.”

‘We’re almost out of funding. The economics of keeping people until July didn’t work. It’s tough, but it has to be done,” said the CEO (photo).

About 25 percent of the company’s financing came from the Canadian government, while 30 percent came from a loan

The company – founded by five McGill University students – caught the government’s attention because of its sustainability, as crickets have a lower carbon footprint than meat and dairy, according to The National Post.

The crickets aren’t the only setback Trudeau has seen lately, as his citizens are outraged that he refused to release the names of 900 Nazi war criminals who fled to Canada after World War II.

Jewish groups call the decision “disgraceful” and say it dishonors the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

The Canadian government is hiding the list of names for fear it could be too embarrassing for the country. TNC reports.

The list of members of the Nazi-led SS Galicia unit was compiled by Canada’s War Crimes Commission of Inquiry.

The decision was met with dismay by the Jewish nonprofit B’nai Brith.

“For decades, B’nai Brith and David Matas, B’nai Brith Canada’s senior legal counsel, fought for full access – but faced endless delays and pushback,” the organization said.

The company – founded by five McGill University students – caught the government’s attention for its sustainability, as crickets have a lower carbon footprint than meat and dairy products.

“Canada is withholding hundreds of files on Nazi war crimes from the public. This shameful secrecy is a shame [sic] survivors and denies justice.”

Bernie Farber, the son of a Holocaust survivor and former member of the Canadian Jewish Congress, branded the decision “a disgraceful stain.”