Do you have a hankering to pay for information that you can receive absolutely free online? Then you’re the kind of sucker the Canadian Subsidy Directory is looking for.

The company behind the annual spam shilling paid listings of freely available information gleaned from Canadian federal and provincial governments is registered as Publications Canadian Publications, 1999 du Skieur, Sainte-Adele, Quebec, and claims to have offices in Montreal and Ontario. The man behind this scheme – who lists himself on LinkedIn under ‘philanthropy’ – is Michel Goyette (aka Michael Goyette).

He’s been spamming far and wide – and relentlessly – for years. Here are some links:

• A posting on The Bolt blog at the University of Saskatchewan from April of 2011;
• Spamhaus lists Goyette in their Registry of Known Spam Operators and says they first spotted him abusing ISPs in 2003;
• Spamfighter posts years of correspondence about Goyette’s spam with Canada’s Privacy Commissioner – acknowledging he harvests and spams email addresses he finds online but says it’s OK;
• Believe it or not, Canadian Subsidy Directory is listed as a member in good standing of  Québec Commercial Certification Office (similar to the Better Business Bureau);
• Even more surprising is that organizations like the Manitoba Environmental Industry Association, the Canadian Venture Capital Association, and Toronto's evangelical Tyndale University College & Seminary are actually PROMOTING the directory;
• While the online forums at Concordia University include a warning and tons of complaints about spam about the annual publication going back nearly ten years.

But if none of that is convincing enough to avoid paying for something you can get for nothing, try this list of 20 links at About.com that provides – FOR FREE – enough information about subsidies and grants for small businesses in Canada to keep you busy for a week. Unless you’re too tied up at the moment deleting spam from one of Canada’s annual annoyances.

Another tip: If (perhaps that should be 'when') you do get spammed for the directory, do NOT reply in the hopes of getting your email address removed from the list. There's plenty of evidence that you'll just confirm that you're a live one and the deluge may actually increase.

Save your $70 or $150, contact the nearest government business development office, and get what is likely to be more up-to-date information about grants and subsidies for the cost of a local phone call.

-g