Evidence of meeting #133 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was projects.
A video is available from Parliament.
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
As far as I was aware, we wouldn't have been providing funding to companies that put them in breach of their funding ratios.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you.
We're turning now to Mr. Cooper. You have the floor for five minutes.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Hogan, are you satisfied with the responses from SDTC and the department about how they are dealing with ineligible projects?
Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General
The organizations agreed with my recommendation. I think I've been clear in the past that if any funding has been given to an individual or organization that is ineligible, I would expect the government to take action to recover it. If they do not plan to do so, I would expect them to be clear and transparent with Canadians about why.
Conservative
Auditor General of Canada, Office of the Auditor General
Well, I haven't seen them take any action yet. They have agreed with my recommendation. Time will tell how they implement the recommendation.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you for that.
Ms. Urie, in the last fiscal year, how much did SDTC board members and the chair receive in bonuses?
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
In the last fiscal year, board members don't receive bonuses.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
How much did the CEO receive? How much did executive members receive in the way of bonuses?
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
This past fiscal year, no bonuses were paid to the executive team.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
There were no bonuses. Okay.
In 2021, it was confirmed that the CEO received bonuses in the amount of $96,000 and VPs received bonuses of $48,000. I'm talking about for each VP. You said board members don't receive bonuses, but each and every board member received $11,000 in bonuses.
We're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses. Can you confirm that bonuses were awarded on the basis of meeting funding goals—in other words, getting money out the door?
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
The pay-for-performance framework that we follow at SDTC is linked to corporate performance, which starts with the corporate plan. Objectives are set for the year within the corporate plan. That's the year—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
That would include getting money out the door. Is that correct?
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
There are a number of initiatives, including supporting the ecosystem, but yes—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I simply asked if that was one of the criteria, yes or no. You know the answer to that. The answer is yes. I'm going to put it to you, to put that on the record.
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Yes, disbursements to companies that have been approved are one of the targets for the year.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
That's right. What we have is $319 million funnelled by board members to companies that they had an interest in, which violated the law. There were blatant conflicts of interest and outright corruption so they could in turn meet bonus eligibility criteria and—guess what—pad their pockets with even more money.
I would characterize that as an absolute racket. It is corruption on a scale that.... I don't know what it's comparable to. It makes the sponsorship scandal look small by comparison.
Ms. Urie, you signed off on the cheques. Is that right? You were vice-president of finance at the time. You are now.
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I wasn't vice-president of finance at the time. I've been vice-president of finance for about 18 months.
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
No. I was an employee of the organization.
Vice-President, Finance, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Some of the time I was in finance, yes.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
I want to ask you about Cycle Capital. SDTC funded Cycle Capital. Somewhere in the neighbourhood of $200 million went to Cycle Capital. This is a company that Minister Guilbeault is a major shareholder in. He had also worked as a lobbyist for Cycle Capital. The managing partner happens to be none other than Andrée-Lise Méthot.
Conservative
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Some $17 million went out the door to Cycle Capital while Minister Guilbeault served in cabinet. Did anyone at SDTC think maybe it wasn't a good idea or maybe it was problematic that a company the Minister of Environment had an interest in was receiving $17 million in funding from SDTC?