Quebec man with fraudulent past a prominent figure at Ottawa convoy protests
CBC
For months, Suzanne Bergeron Stonehouse has tried in vain to get back tens of thousands of dollars from her contracting company for uncompleted flood repairs.
So when she learned the man she had done business with was in Ottawa, handing out thousands he has raised for truckers in the convoy that has paralyzed part of the city, she told CBC it gave her immediate heartburn.
"You just want to scream," said Bergeron Stonehouse, who lives in Deux-Montagnes, Que., west of Montreal.
As originally reported in La Presse, her former contractor, Georges Samman, has become a prominent figure in the Ottawa blockade.
His organization, a movement he calls L'Union Fait La Force Qc (Unity is Strength), is described as a community group on Facebook and has more than 40,000 followers.
Since the end of January, Samman, known as "Georges Tiger" has been frequently posting video updates from the blockade in Ottawa.
On Monday evening, he was among a small group of convoy leaders who gave a video update after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Emergencies Act.
Samman, who is from Quebec, has a history of fraudulent activity, as was originally reported by La Presse.
According to court records, he pleaded guilty in 2009 to multiple counts of possession, use or trafficking of forged credit cards.
Then in 2013, a small claims court judge ordered him to pay $7,000 in damages to a kitchen renovation client. Samman had allegedly used the commercial name and address of a cabinet-making company without its authorization.
CBC has previously reported on the Stonehouses and has reported on other flooding contracts Samman worked on.
In 2018, an Île-Bizard homeowner alleged his government-authorized evaluator used his position to get Samman, an acquaintance and business partner, the contract to repair his home.
Samman founded a political party, the Parti l'union fait la force, and applied to have it recognized by Elections Quebec at the end of December. The name is now reserved.
Reached Thursday in Ottawa, Samman said he's not a conspiracy theorist or an anti-vaxxer, but is opposed to people losing their livelihood because of an obligation to get the jab. Samman said he had to get involved in the protest because he is concerned about human rights in Canada.
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