The Liberal government will not try to recover at least $34 million paid to ineligible projects by the scandal-plagued Sustainable Development Technology Canada, saying pursuing the money would not be “in the public interest.”
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly revealed the decision in a response to questions from Conservative MP Luc Berthold about the former agency, dubbed the “green slush fund” by Conservatives.
SDTC subsequently conducted a broader review of its funded projects with assistance from three independent third parties.
The review determined five recipients had received funding despite being ineligible. Those projects received a combined $34 million from SDTC dating back to 2017, as first reported by Rebel News.
However, Joly said the recipients negotiated and carried out their agreements “in good faith.”
“Therefore, as a matter of fairness and sound stewardship of public funds, it was determined that further pursuit of recoveries was not likely to be successful, and not in the public interest,” the government response said.
The decision follows a scathing 2024 Auditor General report that found widespread problems at SDTC.
Auditor General Karen Hogan examined 58 projects and found 10 ineligible projects received $59 million.
“It’s not always clear that funding decisions made on behalf of Canadian taxpayers were appropriate and justified,” Hogan wrote.
The audit also found 90 cases where SDTC’s records showed its conflict-of-interest policies were not followed, which constituted funding decisions worth nearly $76 million.
Between March 2017 and December 2023, SDTC approved $856 million for 420 projects, according to the Auditor General.
A House of Commons public accounts committee later cited $59 million for ineligible projects, nearly $76 million connected to 90 conflict-of-interest cases, $259 million involving another 96 projects where board members held conflicts, and $58 million where contribution-agreement terms were not ensured.
The committee unanimously called on Ottawa to recoup improperly awarded funds.
Some of those figures overlap and should not simply be added together, according to the Auditor General.
SDTC disputed some of Hogan’s findings on project eligibility.
The controversy prompted then-industry minister François-Philippe Champagne to announce in June 2024 that SDTC’s programming would be transferred to the National Research Council.
SDTC staff transferred to the NRC in February 2025, with its clean-technology programming moved under the NRC’s Industrial Research Assistance Program.
The controversy also surfaced during Mark Carney’s Liberal leadership campaign after former SDTC chair Annette Verschuren donated the maximum $1,750 to his bid.
Conservative MP Michael Barrett cited the donation in accusing Carney of a conflict of interest.
Verschuren had resigned as SDTC chair in November 2023 amid scrutiny over $217,000 in COVID-19 relief payments awarded to NRStor, where she served as chair and CEO.
She told a parliamentary committee she had received legal advice that she was not required to recuse herself from the decisions.
The ethics commissioner later found Verschuren violated the Conflict of Interest Act by participating in decisions benefiting NRStor, where she was a majority shareholder, but found she did not improperly influence other board members.
The scandal also triggered multiple parliamentary investigations and calls from Conservatives for an RCMP probe.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said last October that police had received documents related to the controversy and that investigations were ongoing.
The government’s latest review ultimately reached a narrower conclusion than Hogan’s audit, identifying five ineligible projects compared with the Auditor General’s 10.
The five projects, and the recipients of the $34 million Ottawa has decided not to pursue, were not identified in the government’s response.
Yet the cra bureaucrats want to fine ordinary Canadian citizens $50 a day for arbitrary, petty, just-because reasons. One rule for thee and another for me (lieberal insiders and scammers).