Madam Speaker, thank you for your correction. I do recognize your position. It is not always an easy position to be in.
A senior civil servant was screaming from the rooftops about Liberal incompetence and corruption. The Auditor General found that SDTC gave $58 million to 10 ineligible projects that on occasions could not demonstrate an environmental benefit or the development of green technology, $334 million to over 186 projects in which board members held conflicts of interest and $58 million to projects without ensuring contribution agreement terms were met.
Here is what really makes my blood boil when I hear of something like this. Communities across Canada are struggling with aging infrastructure and are begging for a fair and predictable funding model that will help them tackle the backlog of issues they are dealing with. When they hear of this green slush fund and have challenges getting funding and financing for aging infrastructure projects, municipalities get upset, mayors and councillors get upset and taxpayers get upset. I am upset too. The Liberal government is doling out much-needed funds that could be used in communities for important projects essential to a community's operation and survival, such as new water treatment plants, replacing aging waterlines, replacing aging bridges or roads that need upgrading, and building recreational facilities where kids, families and the elderly can get together. Instead, Liberal insiders get the payouts for projects that cannot demonstrate an environmental benefit or the development of green technology.
The Auditor General made it clear that the blame for this scandal falls on the Prime Minister's industry minister, who did not sufficiently monitor the contracts that were given to Liberal insiders. Why would he? SDTC's mandate was supposed to be a federally funded non-profit that approves and disburses over $100 million in funds annually to clean technology companies. However, from the Auditor General's report, this mandate obviously changed and not for the best interests of the Canadian taxpayer.
Sustainable Development Technology Canada was established in 2001 by the Government of Canada through the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology Act to fund the development and demonstration of new technologies that promote sustainable development. From everything I am reading, it was not doing what it was supposed to do, and the people of Canada are asking for accountability. They want to know why Liberal insiders are getting their pockets filled.
The question I ask is this: Why is an arm's-length not-for-profit organization that was created to support projects that develop and demonstrate new technologies and that address issues related to climate change, air quality, clean water and clean soil being used to line the pockets of friends? I just used the term “arm's length”, but it is more like “hand in pocket”.
The problems with the government are rampant, and they have been going on for far too long. SDTC executives were awarded projects in which they held conflicts to the tune of over 330 million dollars' worth of taxpayer funds. Why did the executives not do their due diligence? Well, it started from the top.
In 2019, the former Liberal industry minister began appointing conflicted executives to the board of SDTC. The Prime Minister's newly appointed board then began voting to give SDTC funding to companies in which executives held active conflicts of interest. Then the governance standards at the fund deteriorated rapidly under the leadership of the new chair. It all started from the top.
How did this come to light? The Auditor General and the Ethics Commissioner initiated separate investigations after whistle-blowers came forward with allegations of financial mismanagement at the fund. The Achilles heel of the Liberal government is financial management. What did the Auditor General say? The Auditor General investigation found severe lapses in the governance standards and uncovered that $390 million in SDTC funding was either awarded to projects that should have been ineligible to receive funding or awarded to projects in which board members were conflicted during the five-year audit report.
There is a clear timeline that tells the story, a horror story, of what has transpired and why we are here today. In late 2018, the former Liberal industry minister expressed concern regarding the Harper-era chair of SDTC, Mr. Jim Balsillie, given his public criticism of government privacy legislation. The minister's office expressed its discomfort with Mr. Balsillie's comments to the CEO of SDTC and requested that the chair stop criticizing government legislation. There was no censorship happening here; just look away.
The minister then proposed two alternative chairs to the CEO of SDTC as replacements in a phone call. One of the candidates proposed was Ms. Verschuren, an entrepreneur who was receiving SDTC funding through one of her companies.
What happened next? The minister, the PMO and the PCO were warned of the risks associated with appointing a conflicted chair and were told that up until that point, the fund had never had a chair with interests in companies receiving funding from SDTC. That was a very clear warning and was, I might add, very good advice.
In June 2019, the minister decided to proceed with the appointment despite repeated warnings expressed by his office not to do so. He did not need advice. The new chair went on to create an environment where conflicts of interest were tolerated and managed by board members. Why not? It was allowed from the top level, so they could do it too.
Board members went on to award SDTC funding to companies in which board members held stock or positions within the company. Their investments were funded by the taxpayers of Canada. How tragic. However, wait, we are not done yet. The minister went on to appoint two other controversial board members, who engaged in unethical behaviour in breach of the Conflict of Interest Act by approving funding for companies in which they held ownership stakes. The cycle continued, to pad the pockets of their friends even more.
ISED officials witnessed 186 conflicts at the board but did not intervene. On January 21, the new minister of industry was appointed. Did he clean up the mess? No. In November 2022, whistle-blowers raised internal concerns with the Auditor General about unethical practices as SDTC. The Privy Council was briefed by the whistle-blowers about the allegations shortly after and commissioned two independent reports.
Not far behind, the whistle-blowers took the allegations public, and the new minister was forced to agree and then suspend funding to SDTC. Just last year, in November 2023, the Auditor General announced an audit of SDTC, which revealed and confirmed the horror story that I have just shared. In June 2024, the Auditor General's report was released, and it found severe governance failures at SDTC.
Only common-sense Conservatives would end the corruption and get answers for Canadians. I say this because it is true, and it is worth repeating. Conservatives recognize that there is only one taxpayer. I am not sure if I have said this before, and I do not like repeating myself, but I will say it again: Conservatives recognize that there is only one taxpayer.
The House could be debating any number of topics, such as the doubling of housing costs, Liberal food inflation or crime and chaos exploding across Canada. Why are people paying more in taxes than they are on the essentials they need to keep their families going? The tired, corrupt government has instead decided to paralyze the work of the House.
It is worth pointing out that this is not just one instance of corruption and spending practices. It is an ongoing cycle. These are Liberal appointees who handed over $400 million in tax dollars to their own companies, which involved 186 separate conflicts of interest. This must stop. The government must hand over the papers.
