The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has found Annette Verschuren, a friend of Justin Trudeau and the former chairperson of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), guilty of violating the Conflict of Interest Act. Verschuren failed to recuse herself from decisions that benefited organizations to which she had ties, improperly furthering their business interests. This breach occurred while she was responsible for allocating federal funds for sustainable technology projects. The ethics commissioner flagged these conflicts of interest, highlighting that many TSX and TSX Venture Exchange public companies received money from decisions she influenced. The Industry Minister was warned about these conflicts, yet over $330 million of taxpayer money was paid out to insiders.