The board chair of a federal green fund participated in the approval of more than $200,000 in grants to her own company, MPs have learned in committee.
Annette Verschuren, board chair of Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDTC), told the House of Commons ethics committee Nov. 8 that she had moved a motion for the board to approve COVID relief payments to STDC-affiliated companies.
Ms. Verschuren is the CEO of NRStor, which received relief payments from STDC of $106,000 in 2020 and $111,000 in 2021.
The company became SDTC-funded 18 months before Ms. Verschuren took the helm of the SDTC board. NRStor has been paying her an annual salary of $120,000, she told the committee.
“It was very difficult, we were very afraid that we’re going to lose the investments that we made and the jobs...” said Ms. Verschuren before being cut off by Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who asked for confirmation that the money went to her company.
ISED commissioned third-party firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton to conduct a fact-finding exercise after whistleblower allegations were levelled against the SDTC leadership in early 2023. The firm found conflict of interest rules had not been “consistently followed.”
Ms. Verschuren testified that she went to great lengths when becoming chair to ensure there would be no conflict of interests, including meeting for two hours with the federal Ethics Commissioner.
She said the board sought legal advice on how best to proceed before it authorized the COVID payments. Ms. Verschuren said it was determined that since the funding went to companies already under the SDTC portfolio where conflicts had already been declared, there were no conflicts with her approving funding for her own company.
‘Everyone Got the Same Amount’
Liberal MP Pam Damoff expressed disbelief that Ms. Verschuren had not recused herself from the decision to send money to her own company, given her broad experience in corporate governance.“Whether you’ve got the legal advice or not, given your decades of experience, I’m just wondering why you wouldn’t have trusted your own instincts on this,” she said.
“Because there were 140 or more of these projects, it was considered an operational issue, everybody was treated the same, everyone got the same amount of money,” replied Ms. Verschuren.
STDC President and CEO Leah Lawrence also testified alongside Ms. Verschuren. She assured the committee that all the rules have been followed under her watch.
“Our organization has played by the rules, improved the rules, and achieved results for Canadians,” she said during her opening remarks. “My leaders have acted ethically at all times.”
It was then raised in committee that SDTC approved funding for a project in which a longtime friend of hers is involved.
“Did you recuse yourself in any conversations regarding the project?” asked NDP MP Matthew Green.
“I discussed it with the project review committee. They determined that because the person was a subcontractor, and because I have no voting role on the project review committee, that I could stay in the room for the conversation,” said Ms. Lawrence.
She added that she did not take part in the conversation and Mr. Green asked her why she would then attend the meeting.
‘Need a Refresher’
The SDTC leadership also told the committee that when they first received the wrongdoing allegations in January, they hired law firm Osler to conduct a review. Ms. Lawrence said Osler found the allegations were not substantiated.“I think you really need a refresher on what conflict of interest really means,” said Conservative MP Larry Brock in noting that Mr. Vandenberg is a partner at Osler.
“Mr. Vandenberg had absolutely nothing to do with the Osler report,” replied Ms. Lawrence.
A senior official at ISED also testified before the committee, given the department oversees the SDTC.
Assistant Deputy Minister Douglas McConnachie was closely involved in dealing with the whistleblower, who secretly recorded his conversations with Mr. McConnachie. Some of those conversations have appeared in the media.
Mr. McConnachie on many occasions sought to downplay his recorded comments and said he had been “baited into making these speculative and inappropriate remarks.”
“Was ISED of the mind at that time to clear house at SDTC?” asked Conservative MP Michael Barrett.
“No, they were not,” said Mr. McConnachie. “That was my personal opinion.”
“You called it a ‘sponsorship level giveaway,’ is that correct?” asked Mr. Barrett, in reference to the Liberal Party sponsorship scandal that contributed to its electoral defeat in 2006.
“It was an offhand remark,” said Mr. McConnachie.
However, Mr. McConnachie confirmed he believed the issues were so numerous at SDTC he had suggested creating a new office to deal with the issue. “I discussed the matter with the deputy minister,” he said.
“I work on the basis of evidence,” he said. “I’m a lawyer, and I would certainly caution members of this committee to apply due process when they’re looking at allegations.”
The Office of the Auditor General is currently undertaking a review of the how SDTC funds green projects.
