The House of Commons ethics committee is calling on Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne to testify, as it looks into evidence of conflict-of-interest breaches and financial mismanagement at Ottawa’s main funding agency for green technology.
Early this month, Mr. Champagne suspended the agency, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, from providing grants to cleantech startups. He also demanded a series of corrective management and governance measures.
A five-month third-party investigation had found evidence of inappropriate funding and breaches of conflict-of-interest rules. The probe was triggered by detailed allegations made by a whistle-blower group consisting of former and current employees of the organization.
SDTC, a federally funded non-profit, is the country’s largest financial supporter of early-stage environmental technology. It has granted $1.6-billion to the sector since 2001. Cleantech executives and venture capitalists have warned that an extended freeze on SDTC grants could be detrimental to the many startups that are in the process of lining up financing to advance their projects.
The House committee on access to information, privacy and ethics agreed on Wednesday to study the matter, possibly as early as next month, and said it would summon the minister to testify, as well as whistle-blowers. Audrey Champoux, Mr. Champagne’s spokesperson, said the minister had yet to receive an official invitation to appear.
The investigation, conducted by...
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