The federal Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, holds interests in a Montreal investment firm which indirectly benefited from financial support from Ottawa.
• Also read: Canada’s public green fund tainted with “significant shortcomings”
• Also read: “Bad management”: funding of a $1 billion federal fund suspended
Before making the leap into politics in 2019, Mr. Guilbeault worked for nine years as a special advisor at Cycle Capital, a fund manager that invests in young companies.
In April 2022, the minister declared to the Ethics Commissioner that he had, since December 2021, held “passive interests” in three funds managed by Cycle Capital.
Steven Guilbeault’s office refused to specify Journal what these interests are, limiting himself to saying that the minister “respects all the rules”. According to Andrée-Lise Méthot, founder of Cycle Capital, this is a form of performance “bonus”.
From 2020 to 2021, Ottawa paid $10.4 million to four companies that are part of Cycle Capital’s portfolio, through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a federal green fund recently abolished due to a conflict of interest scandal.
Mme Méthot served on the SDTC board of directors from 2016 to 2021, leading Conservative MPs to attribute conflicts of interest to him.
SDTC was not under the responsibility of Mr. Guilbeault, but under that of the Minister of Innovation, François-Philippe Champagne. Another federal fund under the latter, the Venture Capital Catalysis Initiative, also invested $20 million in a Cycle Capital fund in June 2019.
Cycle Capital
Testifying before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa last week, Andrée-Lise Méthot assured that on the SDTC board, she “withdrew from discussions” when it came to investing in her firm’s partner companies. She also recalled that neither the Auditor General nor the Conflict of Interest Commission blamed her in this affair.
The founder and associate director of Cycle Capital, Andrée-Lise Méthot, during her appearance before the parliamentary committee on October 28.
Closely pursued by conservative MPs who went so far as to accuse her of “corruption”, Mme Méthot claimed that Steven Guilbeault has not received a single penny from Cycle Capital since he entered politics.
“For the moment,” she said, “Mr. Guilbeault has received $0 from this passive interest.”
“Dirtying”
Criticized for several months by conservative deputies, Andrée-Lise Méthot believes she is the victim of a smear campaign, to the point that she even says she fears for her safety.
“I found it very hard to see my career tarnished where I gave myself without counting, where I involved my family, my friends, built one of the largest venture capital groups in climate tech“, she affirmed in front of the elected officials with a sob in her voice.
“I was even scared, I even took steps to add a security system to my home,” she then let it go.
A controversial $1 billion green fund
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) was founded in 2001 and is funded by the Government of Canada.
SDTC provides funding and mentoring services to entrepreneurs to encourage the clean technology sector in Canada.
The fund was abolished in June due to a scandal. For years, SDTC paid money to companies in which directors of the organization had interests.
The timeline of the scandal
November 2022
Whistleblowers are reporting to the federal government that contractors close to SDTC administrators have received preferential treatment. They allege that $40 million was paid to companies in an emergency during the pandemic without respecting the rules in place.
February 2023
The Ministry of Innovation mandates an external firm to investigate the allegations.
October 2023
Minister François Philippe-Champagne unveils the investigation report by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, which reveals possible conflicts of interest and governance problems. Minister Champagne is suspending SDTC’s authority to pay money to businesses until action is taken to resolve these issues.
François-Philippe Champagne.
Archive photo, QMI Agency
November 2023
The Auditor General launches her own investigation into SDTC. In the turmoil, the president of the organization’s board of directors, Annette Verschuren, resigned.
June 2024
Ottawa abolishes the green fund after the tabling of the Auditor General’s report, which discovered “significant failures” within SDTC. According to the Auditor General, SDTC violated its conflict of interest policies 90 times and awarded $59 million to 10 projects that did not meet the eligibility criteria, in addition to frequently overestimating the environmental benefits of projects.
More than $275 million in public money in Cycle Capital funds
Ministry of the Economy: $160 million
Investissement Québec: $41.5 million
FTQ Solidarity Fund: $35.1 million
Fondaction: 20,1 M$
Federal Ministry of Innovation: $20 million
Total: 276,7 M$
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