Green slush fund head breached ethics code 24 times
Annette Verschuren, appointed by the Liberal government to head Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) in 2019, was previously found guilty of two ethics violations by Commissioner Konrad von Finkenstein for failing to properly recuse herself from votes her companies would benefit from.
WHAT? The head of the Green Slush Fund, Annette Verschuren, didn't breach the conflict of interest legislation twice as the Ethics Commissioner found. It was actually 24 TIMES. pic.twitter.com/OIsqiuSbce
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 16, 2024
Verschuren appeared before the Commons Industry Committee to testify about an Auditor General report which found that over 80% of funding from SDTC was improper.
CPC's Rick Perkins: "If I've got the number correctly, you got $170 million from the infrastructure bank, $50 million from Natural Resources Canada.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 16, 2024
Outside of that, it appears to be very profitable to be connected with these Liberals and be on the STDC [green slush fund] board… pic.twitter.com/5E4WlPkpuY
Verschuren's testimony contradicted that of former Liberal Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, who told the committee he was given a short list of applicants' names from the Privy Council and Verschuren was selected. Verschuren testified she had never applied, indicating she was hand-selected despite her existing conflicts of interest.
LIARS: former Lib Industry Minister Navdeep Bains lied to committee when he testified that he chose from a short list of names created by PCO to appoint conflicted Green Slush Fund head, Annette Verschuren. She had 24 - not two- ethics violations.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 16, 2024
She was selected and had not… pic.twitter.com/LfEv4tJlMp
Finkenstein told the committee he found no usefulness in exposing conflicts of interest, although his mandate provides for commissioner-initiated investigations.
CPC's Rick Perkins asks the Ethics Commissioner what his job even is if he doesn't initiate investigations into ethics violations.
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) September 16, 2024
PERKINS: "Are you going to initiate now that you're aware of way more instances of conflicts of interest?"
Ethics Commissioner Konrad Von… pic.twitter.com/ElcLI6BtPg
Verschuren resigned as president of the board of directors of SDTC late last year when it was announced that she was the subject of an ethics investigation.
The commissioner determined that she “furthered her private interests” in NRStor Inc., a company wherein she was the chair, CEO and majority shareholder. NRstor builds, owns and operates energy storage projects.
Von Finkenstein found Verschuren participated in decisions on COVID-19 emergency relief funding in March 2020 and 2021, and that she did it “knowing that NRStor would benefit from the funding."
Sheila Gunn Reid
Chief Reporter
Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.