Evidence of meeting #143 for Public Accounts in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sdtc.
A video is available from Parliament.
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Those documents were reviewed by staff and counsel, under the direction of the board, to fully comply with the order of Parliament.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
Given your new mandate to root out fraud and wrongdoing and to take the appropriate action, my spidey senses on what's transpiring right now.... In the House, we have a privilege motion that has been ongoing for a number of days and will continue for a number of days. It was the government itself, and every member of the government side on the back bench, refusing to vote in favour of the disclosure request. They are now opposed to the release of these documents. They're claiming it's for charter-protected reasons, which is complete nonsense.
Conservative
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant, ON
The question is this: Do you think it's an appropriate use of our time to demand accountability? Do you think Canadians deserve accountability and full access to all the documents, in order to assist you, ultimately, in the process of ensuring that fraud and wrongdoing are rooted out, and that appropriate recovery action takes place, yes or no?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
My role, as a member of the board of SDTC, is to comply with the order of Parliament on the production of papers.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you very much.
I'll turn now to Ms. Yip.
You have five minutes.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Thank you.
Last week we heard from Ms. Doyle that the transition to NRC is happening on an expedited timeline. The final Auditor General's recommendation is a project review, which is currently under way and should be done in the next few weeks.
I'm wondering if you could provide this committee with a bit more detail on the project review.
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
In the detailed response to the Auditor General's report that SDTC tabled with this committee, we indicated that we plan to complete the independent reviews of project eligibility by the end of December of this year.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Can you give us a little more detail? Which projects are you looking at?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Yes.
We brought in independent reviewers for each project. Each project will be reviewed by two independent reviewers. We are reviewing them on a priority basis. First of all, we are starting with active projects where funding has been paused and where project milestones have been met. These companies in question have fulfilled their obligations under the contract but have not yet received their funding because of the funding pause.
We'll be proceeding as we go to review all the projects, prioritizing the ones that, in the short term, have been meeting their obligations. SDTC has not been able to provide them with funding under the agreements.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Ms. Doyle also explained that the project agreements you entered into with recipient companies are legally binding documents and that there needs to be a violation of that document for there to be justification for recouping the funds.
Have you received any written advice?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
We have not. Right now, we are at the front end of looking at these eligibility reviews. I expect to be able to report more on that at a later date. We will be reporting quarterly to ISED, including on the eligibility reviews and what is being determined through those reviews.
I expect more information to become available on that in the coming months.
Liberal
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
We will be providing quarterly updates to ISED. I will obviously look into what can be shared with the committee. Part of the Auditor General's report is to ensure transparency in everything we're doing.
Liberal
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
I will have to return to the committee with information on that.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Extensive training was implemented. Can you elaborate on that?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Yes, there was training on the appropriate management and documentation of conflict of interest, and that training was provided to all of our staff. When we bring in independent advisers on projects, as noted, they also receive advice on conflict of interest reporting. Also, as a board, we were advised by both the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and by our own independent adviser, who advises us on a regular basis on anything related to conflict of interest.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Outside contractors are also held to a stricter conflict of interest expectation. Was this clarified and put in more detail in the renewed contribution agreement?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Yes, the contribution agreement updated the provisions around conflict of interest, as did all of our internal processes. This started prior to the Auditor General's report, and then the Auditor General's report provided additional recommendations, which allowed us to further strengthen those processes.
Liberal
Jean Yip Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
What position is the industry in after a year of frozen funding at SDTC? What are you hearing from the industry?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
We're hearing from the industry that they are very much looking forward to having funding restarted, as per one of the pillars of the mandate that was given to us by the Minister of ISED. There are companies that proceeded with their project and met their project requirements, and they are, certainly, interested in receiving the funding they are due for the work they did.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Williamson
Thank you very much.
Next we have Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné.
With respect to the question you asked in the last round, we'll wait for Ms. Morgan to get back to the committee with a response.
Ms. Sinclair‑Desgagné, you may go ahead for two and a half minutes.
Bloc
Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné Bloc Terrebonne, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Morgan, you said that two separate independent reviews were under way. Can you tell me the names of the two auditors, consultants or companies conducting the reviews?
Board Director, Sustainable Development Technology Canada
We hired a number of firms, and I'm happy to provide those names to the committee.