Ottawa suspends $1B green fund after receiving whistleblower complaint
CBC
Ottawa has frozen the activities of a federal foundation that finances the development of green technologies after receiving a report that criticized its management of public funds.
Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDTC) is in the middle of a five-year agreement with the federal government to distribute $1 billion to small and medium businesses in the clean tech sector.
The decision to suspend the organization's ability to distribute its funding was announced on Tuesday by Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
The move came after a group of whistleblowers brought a complaint against SDTC to the government earlier this year over concerns about the foundation's management of its federal funding and human resources.
The government hired an external firm, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, to conduct an investigation of the allegations.
In their report just released by the government, investigators raised questions about SDTC's decision to distribute $38 million in emergency "relief payments" in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, to companies with which it had previous funding agreements.
According to the report, these contributions "did not appear to be consistent with the requirements" of SDTC's contribution agreement with the government, pointing out "the payments do not require project cost eligibility or monitoring and reporting."
One of the funding recipients also "appeared to be ineligible" to receive an amount of $280,000, said the report.
The report also raises questions about the conflict of interest policy within SDTC, stating it was "inconsistently applied."
The report cited a declaration of a conflict of interest between SDTC's chief executive officer and an external reviewer that was "backdated [...] under the direction of the corporation's external legal counsel."
In another portion of the report, investigators found that two streams of funding created by SDTC, worth over $20 million, appear to "contravene" or "not meet the main goal" of its agreement with the government.
In a press release on Tuesday, Champagne said he takes the findings contained in the report "seriously."
"The fact-finding report identified a number of instances in which SDTC was not in full compliance with the contribution agreement made with ISED," said the minister. "It also identified opportunities for improvement in other areas not covered by the contribution agreement, and outside of the scope of intervention for ISED, including human resources, governance, and oversight."
Champagne is calling on SDTC to implement a "management response and action plan" designed by his department by the end of 2023, adding he is "exploring further options to strengthen the governance oversight of SDTC."
A longtime friend has identified the victim of a suspicious death earlier this month in Saanich, B.C., as a victim of intimate partner violence.
Toronto will provide an additional $2.6 million in funding for its rent bank this year to help residents stay housed in the city, Mayor Olivia Chow says.
Health P.E.I. is pushing back against an auditor general's report that said it is overpaying a private Ontario firm for after-hours radiology services.
Ottawa police say they arrested someone on trespassing-related charges after Iran's shuttered embassy was defaced during an anti-regime protest on Monday.
Several Canada geese were found dead in the Whitby Harbour on Monday and testing will be done to determine if avian flu is to blame, according to town officials.
City of Yellowknife officials have tested drinking water in a number of facilities and found elevated lead levels in four buildings.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to China to try to move past years of diplomatic tension and make progress on a key trade irritant — Canada's steep tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and the agricultural levies China imposed in response.
A woman is recovering after an altercation with a man in Calgary’s northwest that resulted in his death in what police are calling “the most clear-cut case of self-defence.”
Alberta's chief medical officer of health says while it's far from over, the province appears to be through the worst of a bad flu season.
Durham Regional Police Services (DRPS) pushes back on some members’ PTSD claims, even if they have a medical diagnosis, a CBC News investigation has found.
After nearly 25 years, Prince Edward Island's compost system is set to be replaced and modernized.
Analysts at CIBC are forecasting a wider discount on Alberta heavy crude this year as U.S. plans to rebuild Venezuela's ailing industry dominate headlines.
A Toronto court is hearing from one of the people who signed on to supervise a man accused of laundering funds for an international drug ring if he is released on bail.