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. 

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. 

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. 

Finkenstein told the committee he found no usefulness in exposing conflicts of interest, although his mandate provides for commissioner-initiated investigations. 

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.

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