Conservatives pass motion to force Green Slush Fund insiders to repay cash

The Canadian Press / Spencer Colby

The motion at the Commons Public Accounts Committee will force the government to recoup payments from Sustainable Development and Technology Canada (STDC) to well-connected Liberal insiders guilty of a conflict of interest. 

A recent audit by the Auditor General Karen Hogan of SDTC found that 10 of the 58 projects funded by STDC were ineligible for grants and, yet, had still received a total of $59 million.

The former head of the Liberals' Green Slush Fund, Annette Verschuren, was found breaking Ethics Laws after her own companies received funding, both before and after her appointment.

The PMO -knowing about her conflicts - recommended her appointment. pic.twitter.com/pO2J8V2dKU

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 5, 2024

Another 90 funding approval decisions totalling $76 million demonstrated an apparent conflict of interest by a voting member. 

PCO deputy cabinet secretary Donalyn McClymont called the appointment of a chair to the Green Slush Fund whose companies were getting money from the fund "a success."

But the conflicted chair was not the only Liberal insider riding the Liberal's green gravy train with biscuit… pic.twitter.com/0dMWzPViS3

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 5, 2024

The ethics commissioner later found the fund's former chairperson, Annette Verschuren, had violated federal conflict-of-interest rules when her companies received funding. 

HOLY> Now we find the chair of the Liberals' Green Slush Fund was hand-selected by the PMO/PCO AND when she was chosen, she had already received about $12 million from the Green Slush Fund before she was appointed.

And then while on the board, her conflict of interest companies… pic.twitter.com/kf8qUBpw9X

— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 5, 2024

The committee has ordered another, more comprehensive, audit.