Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants an RCMP investigation after an auditor general report found mismanagement of a sustainable technology fund.
On Monday, Conservatives introduced a motion for a potential RCMP investigation calling on the government and the Auditor General to hand over all documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). The Conservative motion was adopted on June 10.
All federal parties except for the Liberals passed the non-binding motion. In a statement, the Conservative Party of Canada said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned the SDTC into “a slush fund for organizations connected to Liberal insiders.”
The motion comes a week after a jaw-dropping investigation from Auditor General Karen Hogan was tabled in the House of Commons, revealing tens of millions of dollars were allegedly mishandled by SDTC.
“Last week, the Auditor General revealed the shocking truth of the extent of Liberal Corruption through her report on the Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). This showed that Trudeau had turned this organization into a slush fund for organizations connected to Liberal insiders. In total, $123 million worth of contracts were found to have been given inappropriately, while $76 million was given to projects where there was a connection to the Liberals’ friends appointed to roles within SDTC.
On top of this, $12 million was given to projects that were both ineligible and had a conflict of interest. The Auditor General also discovered that long-established conflict of interest policies were not followed in 90 cases. In one instance, Trudeau’s handpicked SDTC chair siphoned off $217,000 to her own company,” said Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.
The report found, “significant lapses in Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s governance and stewardship of public funds.” The foundation awards funding to support new technologies that promote sustainable development under 4 streams—Start-up, Scale-up, Ecosystem, and Seed. For its part, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada did not sufficiently monitor the compliance with the contribution agreements between the foundation and the Government of Canada.
The report found that “the foundation awarded funding to projects that were ineligible, that conflicts of interest existed in some instances, and that certain requirements in the Canada Foundation for Sustainable Development Technology Act were not met.”
The report said that the foundation awarded funding to 10 ineligible projects of 58 examined. These 10 projects were awarded $59 million even though they did not meet key requirements set out in the contribution agreements between the government and the foundation. In addition, we estimated that 1 in 10 of the remaining Start-up and Scale-up projects approved during our audit period were also ineligible.
Also, according to the minutes of the meetings of the foundation’s board of directors, the report found 90 cases that were connected to approval decisions, representing nearly $76 million in funding awarded to projects, where the foundation’s conflict-of-interest policies were not followed.
