In a scrum Tuesday, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne denied claims by a former Sustainable Development Technology Canada employee that his department covered up wrongdoing at the cleantech funding agency and said it followed “due process” in investigating conflict of interest allegations. (The Logic)

Talking point: The former employee alleged during a federal industry committee hearing Monday that SDTC misappropriated about $150 million, including by granting money to projects with close ties to the agency’s board and management. The whistleblower, who asked not to be named, said the agency ignored numerous complaints of mismanagement and a “toxic” workplace environment. Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)—the department overseeing SDTC—launched a third-party investigation, which validated some of the complaints. The former employee took aim at ISED for not firing or penalizing any of the agency’s board and management team. ISED instead suspended SDTC from granting funds while it addresses issues identified in the probe. The agency’s CEO Leah Lawrence and board chair Annette Verschuren have resigned. SDTC spokesperson Janemary Banigan said in a statement that much of the whistleblower’s allegations Monday were “either false or grossly misrepresented” and that SDTC is cooperating with ongoing reviews of the agency.