Whistleblowers at green fund want federal government to protect them from career, legal reprisals
CBC
Whistleblowers who exposed problems at a federal green fund are calling for protection from possible professional or legal retaliation.
The organization targeted by the whistleblowers earlier this year is Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a foundation created and funded by the federal government.
Under its ongoing agreement with Ottawa, SDTC has $1 billion in federal funds to distribute to small and medium-sized businesses in the clean tech field between 2021 and 2026.
Earlier this year, a group of whistleblowers filed a complaint with the federal government about SDTC's management of public funds and human resources. The group is made up of more than 20 current and former employees, including executives.
Several of their allegations were validated by a recent report from an outside consulting firm, Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton. The firm was hired to look into the whistleblowers' complaints by the federal department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
After receiving the report, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne froze SDTC's ability to approve new projects and ordered reforms to the fund's conflict of interest and project approval policies, among other things.
SDTC operates at arm's length from the government and is not subject to the same rules as federal departments regarding the protection of whistleblowers.
In their report, investigators raised questions about SDTC's decision to distribute $38 million in emergency "relief payments" in 2020 and 2021 to companies with which it had previous funding agreements.
Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton's report said these contributions "did not appear to be consistent with the requirements" of SDTC's contribution agreement with the government and "the payments do not require project cost eligibility or monitoring and reporting."
One of the funding recipients also "appeared to be ineligible" to receive an amount of $280,000, said the report.
The whistleblower group has raised with the federal government the recent dismissal of an employee at SDTC. It alleges the firing was related to the external review.
While ISED funds and oversees SDTC's activities, it has told the whistleblowers that SDTC employees do not enjoy the same protections as federal civil servants due to the legal status of the foundation.
"ISED has no authority in matters pertaining to the management of human resources at SDTC," a senior official told the whistleblowers, according to an email obtained by Radio-Canada.
NDP MP Brian Masse raised this issue directly with Champagne.
