In 2017 you made an investment with a Chinese state-owned enterprise. They're an investor with you, and you have an office in China. Are you following the Chinese national security act, which requires those who operate in China to spy and steal technology?

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Drouin Liberal Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

As much as I have no idea what the heck that has to do with SDTC, if the member wants to put a motion forward to go after those, I'm sure we could, but I don't see how this relates to our study.

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative John Williamson

Ms. Méthot, do you have an answer to that?

1:40 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I want to tell you I am not a Chinese spy.

October 28th, 2024 / 1:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative John Williamson

I turn now to Ms. Bradford.

Ms. Bradford, you have the floor for five minutes, please.

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Valerie Bradford Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Again, Madam Méthot, thank you so much for your patience. I'm so sorry for the stress this has caused you and your family. I know you were at the INDU committee about a year ago, and here you are, back again. I hope people watching at home don't think that, if they step forward to serve on a board of directors, this could be their fate sometime down the line, because I would hate to think that might be the case and preclude people from serving in this important work.

I will just give you a chance to finish your answer to Mr. Perkins' questions, where he cut you off, if you want to complete that answer.

1:40 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I repeat that we followed all the rules. I recused myself; I declared real and potential conflicts of interest. It is clearly written everywhere. I’m offering an addendum to what the Auditor General did.

Mr. Perkins, I want to repeat that yes, we conducted business in China, we managed money for Chinese interests in China, and we have since withdrawn. I must say that the situation in China changed quite a bit over the last 10 years.

As experienced business people, like any other business people, we did business with different players throughout the world. However, for the time being, our activities there have ceased.

I want to repeat that I am not a Chinese spy. I am a woman, a feminist, an environmentalist, a francophone, and I support the right to abortion.

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Valerie Bradford Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON

Thank you for that clarification. It's now in the Hansard record. There you go.

As part of the investigation, has the RCMP reached out to you?

1:40 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

No.

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Valerie Bradford Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON

No. Okay.

We hear this fund falsely being called a “green slush fund”, that is, money set aside in a pot to sit there and not be used, which we know is false, as over $3 billion in revenue was generated from companies that received SDTC funding.

Can you speak to some of these funding decisions, how the board decided to provide funding over the long term and the recusal process that was needed each time a project came in front of the board for a funding proposal?

1:40 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

The process was very simple. First of all, there were eligibility criteria. The SDTC team, made up of competent people, conducted a detailed analysis. Once SDTC assessed a business’s eligibility, the file would end up in the hands of the project review committee. We did not fund businesses, we funded projects.

Every project was evaluated according to specific criteria. It was a matter of determining if those criteria had been met. Then, we assessed the quality of what was presented to us. Debates occurred often. For example, a file could be eligible, but the project review committee sometimes decided that the file wasn’t strong enough. In that case, members of the committee would suggest to the business under review that it improve its proposal to make for a winning project.

I remind you that SDTC’s objective was to build winning businesses, not fund businesses. The objective was to give technology businesses the opportunity to be winners. In terms of technology, the worldwide ecosystem is competitive. It was also a matter of solidifying intellectual property and building solid management teams that could be competitive on world markets. That is what our discussions were about.

Then, once projects were accepted, a contract was negotiated, not by members of the board, but by the SDTC team. I remind you that the people negotiating those contracts were competent. Specific objectives were set for each business. Some businesses lost their funding or part of it because they did not reach those objectives. Follow-up was rigorous.

You must understand that the board of directors was a key component among many, and the process is lengthy. Since the last step was very demanding, it took six to 18 months before businesses could access funding from SDTC.

That is what I was able to observe over the five years I was at SDTC. I remind you that I haven’t been there for over three years.

1:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative John Williamson

Ms. Bradford, you have time for one brief question, but you risk cutting off your colleague if you go long. You have the floor if you'd like it.

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

Valerie Bradford Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON

Can you briefly tell us some of the unique challenges clean-tech start-ups in Quebec face compared to other regions in Canada, and how SDTC was able to address these?

1:45 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

The Quebec companies are no different from the Canadian companies. I've seen all companies face the same challenges.

Remember that these companies don't make a profit, since they're start‑ups. All Canadian clean‑tech companies face major challenges in terms of funding and sales. I would say that Quebec start‑ups don't face unique challenges.

When it comes to conquering global markets, technology companies in the Halifax area face the same major challenges as companies in Vancouver or Toronto. They all face the same competition in global markets.

1:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative John Williamson

Thank you.

Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.

1:45 p.m.

Bloc

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC

Ms. Méthot, I want to say how sorry I am for what you've been through over the past few months. I can personally attest to the fact that it's quite unpleasant, since it happened to me.

I would like to set the record straight regarding SDTC. You left your position in 2021. I wanted to say that people had already started to behave or act in ways that weren't quite clear‑cut. I'll identify one person, but I would like us to move on quickly. I don't have much time left. I'm thinking of Mr. Lecavalier. You hired him, but he was quickly dismissed, for no apparent reason. I'll leave it at that.

To hear you tell it, the situation at SDTC was serious enough that Minister Champagne chose to eliminate SDTC. In your opinion, SDTC took a rigorous approach. However, the findings of the Auditor General and the people from the Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton firm suggest otherwise.

Honestly, I see many differences between your testimony and the reports of the Auditor General of Canada and this firm.

Do you think that Mr. Champagne made a mistake by eliminating SDTC?

1:50 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I'm not in politics. I'm not in a position to say whether ministers make mistakes.

1:50 p.m.

Bloc

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC

What's your opinion? You're an expert. You know the industry better than anyone.

1:50 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I'm not an expert on whether organizations should be eliminated.

1:50 p.m.

Bloc

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC

You're an SDTC expert.

1:50 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I'm not an SDTC expert. I'm a clean‑tech expert who used to sit on the SDTC board of directors.

1:50 p.m.

Bloc

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC

Okay.

You're playing with words. You're a clean‑tech expert.

In that case, do you think that eliminating Canada's largest public funding program for clean‑tech projects was a good decision?

1:50 p.m.

Founder and managing partner, Cycle Capital Management, As an Individual

Andrée-Lise Méthot

I think that Canadian companies deserve the same support that their American counterparts currently receive.