Evidence of meeting #91 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was project.
A video is available from Parliament.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
The reason I say that is that I don't usually engage. What I am there for is as a support—
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
What's the purpose of you being there if you're not going to engage?
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I'm there to support my team as they present projects to the committee.
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
So you're supporting your team as they present a project to the board—
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's correct.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
As I said, I disclosed that to the project review committee. They reviewed it. I followed the conflict of interest practice.
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Just recently, though, you testified that you believed recusal was a good best practice. Yet you didn't do it.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
In this situation, there was deemed not to be a conflict of material nature by the directors, who are my bosses, so I stayed in the room.
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Is it the directors who decide who is in a conflict of interest?
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
What we do in our process—Ms. Urie can provide more information, if you like—is that a declaration is made. Then, yes, the directors evaluate that declaration—perceived in this case—and make a decision on who should continue to participate in the meeting.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I'm sorry...?
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
A declaration is not a reverse UNO that you can put on the table and say, “I declare it. Therefore, it doesn't exist.”
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I did not—
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's why I declared it, sir.
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Referencing your own organization's code of conduct, it goes into very clear descriptions about relationships.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's why I declared it, sir.
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I declared it and I followed our process.
6 p.m.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
But you've now acknowledged, I think, that your process had some significant gaps.
I'm going to put this question to both you and Ms. Verschuren.
You're here. You're at a parliamentary ethics committee. To get to this point, there have to be some significant gaps in governance, would you not agree?
6 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I think you have a series of allegations that have been shown in two reports to be non-substantiated. I think there are some administrative findings that have been put forward and that we are implementing.
I can always do better—
6:05 p.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
—and we can always do better. That's how we're approaching this situation.