The head of a federal green fund has resigned citing a “malicious campaign” against her, two days after defending her steering of the embattled entity before MPs.
“Given recent media reports, House of Commons committee testimony, and the surrounding controversy, it is clear there has been a sustained and malicious campaign to undermine my leadership,” she reportedly wrote.
“This compromises my future ability to lead the organization and puts me in an untenable situation. And I want to see this organization succeed.”
The committee is conducting a review of SDTC, an arms-length federal not-for-profit agency funding green technologies after the government announced in October it was blocking the funding of new projects amid conflict of interest and mismanagement allegations.
Allegations leveled by whistleblowers in early 2023 resulted in two external reviews by third-party firms. A first one conducted by law firm Osler and commissioned by SDTC reportedly found the allegations were not substantiated.
A second review by Raymon Chabot Grant Thornton ordered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), which oversees SDTC, found that conflict of interest rules had not been “consistently followed.”
Ms. Lawrence told the committee she had not recused herself when SDTC was discussing funding for a project involving a friend of hers.
She said the project review committee had determined it was not necessary because the individual was a subcontractor. “Because I have no voting role on the project review committee... I could stay in the room for the conversation.”
STDC board chair Annette Verschuren also testified alongside Ms. Lawrence and she said legal advice from an Osler partner was behind the decision to not recuse herself from a decision to provide COVID relief payments to her own company.
Federal Response
Along with pausing the funding of new projects, ISED has provided SDTC with a management response and action plan.Tory leader Pierre Poilievre directed that question at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week.
Mr. Champagne responded that he would add some “facts” to Mr. Poilievre’s “fairy tale.”
“From the moment I learned about an allegation of wrongdoing, I demanded a third-party investigation,” he said. “After receiving the report, we demanded that there be corrective action at the management level and at the board level.”
The Office of the Auditor General is currently undertaking a review of how SDTC funds green projects.
