Thank you, sir.
I was asked by the deputy minister's office of ISED on two occasions to send emails to the clean-tech stakeholder community encouraging them to nominate potential candidates for the position of chair of SDTC. I understand that this is a common procedure supporting central agency-led appointments processes.
In June 2018, I was also asked to contact Ms. Lawrence, as CEO of SDTC, to advise her that an order in council had been issued appointing Ms. Verschuren as SDTC chair. I remember Ms. Lawrence and I discussing the CEO selection process several times in 2018, and I believe that she was the one who advised me of Annette Verschuren's candidacy, noting that she had encouraged her to seek the advice of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. I did discuss this matter with the deputy minister, and we both understood that Ms. Verschuren had sought advice, which we assumed would be implemented and taken into account in the appointments process. At no time did I doubt that this was happening.
With respect to my relationship with Ms. Verschuren, I first met her in 2017 or 2018 as part of the department's outreach on clean tech. She was a member of the CEO clean-tech sector table, to which I acted as secretary. Our relationship was solely a professional one.
On the allegations regarding HR and administrative issues at SDTC, I had no knowledge of this until I learned of the whistle-blower's allegations. I immediately discussed this situation with the deputy minister, and we agreed that I should withdraw from any further engagement with the board while the matter was under investigation. To avoid any risk of real or perceived bias in the investigatory process, I also played no role in it.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's over to you.