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.
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—
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
What's the purpose of you being there if you're not going to engage?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I'm there to support my team as they present projects to the committee.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
So you're supporting your team as they present a project to the board—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's correct.
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.
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.
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.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Is it the directors who decide who is in a conflict of interest?
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.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I'm sorry...?
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.”
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I did not—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's why I declared it, sir.
NDP
Matthew Green NDP Hamilton Centre, ON
Referencing your own organization's code of conduct, it goes into very clear descriptions about relationships.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
That's why I declared it, sir.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I declared it and I followed our process.
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?
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—
President and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
—and we can always do better. That's how we're approaching this situation.