What’s up with the Conservative fixation on crickets?

Crickets are the main course of a conspiracy-laden informal petition released by the federal Conservative Party earlier this week to attack Canada's climate policy. 

The petition references a conspiracy theory popular with online influencers and some conservative politicians and pundits who say the federal government is part of a global plot, led by the World Economic Forum, that uses climate measures to force people into submission – including by making them eat insects. 

This is entirely false. There is no global conspiracy to use greenhouse gas emission reduction policies to impose an authoritarian regime. That hasn't stopped the federal Conservatives from leveraging the conspiracies to attack Canada's carbon tax. 

"Justin Trudeau is attempting to impose a woke agenda on Canadians," the petition reads. In addition to "betting big on an edible bug factory," it claims Trudeau’s agenda includes "a mandatory digital ID, a central bank digital currency, no more roads, and a global shipping carbon tax." 

Canada is looking into digital IDs, but if implemented, they would be optional. The Bank of Canada has researched a digital dollar, but is scaling back that work to focus on "broader payments system research and policy development." 

The reference to "no more roads" nods to a February controversy when Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the federal government is prioritizing funding for public transit and low-carbon transportation over building new highways. And the shipping tax references a statement by Guilbeault that Canada "is supportive" of global efforts to tax aviation and shipping to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.    

"No international body will have the right to impose its policies on Canadians," the petition reads. "We, the undersigned, call on Justin Trudeau to stop his woke agenda, end the reckless government spending and give Canadians what they want: A carbon tax election NOW." 

Cricket factory a focus of conspiracy theories

The petition centres around a recent announcement that Canada's largest edible cricket factory is laying off two-thirds of its workforce in what it calls an extended retooling, with plans to rehire in July. Aspire Food Group, the facility's owner, received an $8.5 million loan from the federal government in 2022, which Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) confirmed to Canada's National Observer the company must reimburse. 

In a statement released at the time, the government said the funds aimed to help the company develop new technology to grow crickets, quickly and with relatively few resources, for sale as high-protein flour. Insects are among the planet's most sustainable sources of protein, generating fewer greenhouse gas emissions and pollution than meat, poultry or dairy. The flour is intended to be added to processed foods and pet food. 

But last week, the company announced that it was laying off 100 of its 150 employees. The company "needs to make some improvements to its manufacturing system" to improve yields, a process that will take about seven months, Aspire CEO David Rosenberg told AgFunder News. 

Typically, it would be the mundane tale of a flashy start-up getting government funding, then suffering growing pains. But not in the case of Aspire: soon after the federal funding was announced in 2022, the company's London, Ontario, facility became a common trope in Canada's right-wing conspiracy theories. 

At the time, online conspiracists were already busy pushing the false claim that a voluntary nitrogen fertilizer emissions reduction plan proposed by the federal government was actually a plot to devastate farmers and starve Canadians. Several conservative politicians, including Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, nodded to the conspiracy at the time, a Canada's National Observer investigation revealed.  

The government's support for Aspire's cricket farm boosted the conspiracy further, with proponents claiming that the government also wanted to force people to eat the insects. This is false — yet far-right news outlets like The Counter Signal, Rebel News, and True North have written dozens of articles on the subject over the past several years. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for AAFC said that " the government of Canada will not force Canadians to eat insects…. Canadians are, and will remain, free to consume the foods of their choice." 

Ryan Katz-Rosene, a professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa who studies food systems, said in an email he is concerned the Conservatives are promoting these conspiracy theories.

"I presume they are using this kind of petition and language because they know it galvanizes and rallies support more than if they were to use more neutral and objective language in a petition like this," he wrote. "I don't know how many Conservative MPs and or Party staffers/strategists really 'believe' much of this conspiracy stuff. I'm assuming it's only a small share who are really down the rabbit hole as it were."

Canada's National Observer asked the federal Conservative Party why it created the petition and to provide evidence backing the document's claims. It did not respond by deadline.