Whistleblowers secretly recorded civil servant slamming 'outright incompetence' at federal green fund
Whistleblowers secretly recorded civil servant slamming 'outright incompetence' at federal green fund
Speaking with a member of a whistleblower group, McConnachie predicted a fiery reaction when his minister at Innovation, François-Philippe Champagne, would get briefed on the report.
"The minister is going to flip out when he hears the stuff and he's going to want an extreme reaction, like shut it all down," predicted McConnachie.
Back in late August, the whistleblowers who had filed a complaint against SDTC still hoped for a management overhaul and the launch of a full-fledged investigation. In their complaint filed early in the year, they alleged a series of conflicts of interest and a number of potential cases of mismanagement of public funds at the foundation that subsidizes Canada's cleantech sector. More than two months later, however, the SDTC management team and board of directors remain in place.
The government has even called on them to implement a series of reforms in response to the whistleblower complaint and the investigative work of Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, the external firm that produced the report into various shortcomings at SDTC.
In short, the very people who were in the crosshairs of the public service at the end of August were entrusted this fall with resolving the issues that arose under their reign.
Inside every Canadian bureaucrat there are two beavers.
One is the Dudley Doright beaver. It adheres to the higher principles espoused by the government: equity for all, abiding by international agreements, environmental responsibility, and meaningful reconciliation. Left alone, this beaver would turn Canada into a citizen's paradise.
The other is the Arthur Irving beaver. It pays lip service to the principles espoused by the government, but quietly does everything it can to enrich itself and its political masters. It does everything it can to support Canada's extractive economy and oligopolies. If left alone, this beaver would turn Canada into what it is today.
There's undoubtedly a better name than Dudley Doright, but I have a hard time coming up with it.
I'm here for this kind of sousveillance. The public service has some talented and motivated people, but they're trapped by the bureaucracy and the political staff.
In their complaint, the whistleblowers raised numerous examples of potential conflicts of interest between SDTC executives, board members, companies that make funding requests and experts who evaluate the proposals.
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In short, the very people who were in the crosshairs of the public service at the end of August were entrusted this fall with resolving the issues that arose under their reign.