Province Could Soon ‘Wind Up’ Funding for Nonprofit
Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
3/1/13
Saskatchewan’s top government official said this week that the province may not renew funding for a prominent carbon sequestration-focused nonprofit there. Premier Brad Wall said that the provincial government could “wind up” funding for the Regina-based International Performance Assessment Centre for the Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide (IPAC-CO2) when initial seed money expires at the end of March. “We wanted IPAC to develop standards for CO2 storage … that work is completed, and that’s why I think it’s reasonable to say it can be wound up,” Wall told reporters earlier this week, referring to consensus standards for CO2 storage published by IPAC and the Canadian Standards Association late last year.
Wall’s comments come a week after Canadian news reports alleged a conflict of interest related to a single-sourced IT contract agreed to in IPAC’s startup days. The news has sparked a provincial debate surrounding value for money of taxpayer-funded projects. The reports linked former IPAC head Malcolm Wilson, now CEO of the Petroleum Technology Research Centre, and then-colleague Ian Bailey to a $2.9 million “handshake agreement” signed with the group Climate Ventures Inc. (CVI) and said they served on the boards of both companies at one point. Wilson’s lawyer argued there was no conflict of interest in the IPAC-CVI deal because Wilson’s involvement with the two companies did not overlap. An investigation commissioned by IPAC in 2011 subsequently concluded that the CVI contract did not adhere to the University of Regina’s contract management policies, but said that Wilson did not benefit from the agreement financially.
Wall told reporters this week that the province would likely not renew the $5 million, 5-year contract it gave IPAC in 2008 when it expires at the end of March. “We’ll look at that in terms of the budget, but I don’t think there’s a need to continue because the work’s been completed,” he said, adding that the province might provide some “wind-up” dollars for the organization. But a spokesman for the Crown Investments Corp. of Saskatchewan, the provincial agency in charge of doling out grants to energy-focused nonprofits like IPAC, clarified to GHG Monitor that the province had long discussed not renewing funding and that the decision had nothing to do with last week’s media attention. “It just so happens that these issues are overlapping,” the spokesman said.
The End for IPAC?
IPAC did not return requests for comment regarding its future plans, but Wall’s announcement could prompt a drastic change of course for the nonprofit, which in addition to the CO2 storage standards is best known for conducting an independent analysis of an alleged CO2 leak on a farm near the Weyburn-Midale enhanced oil recovery site in southeast Saskatchewan in 2011. The nonprofit must now secure additional sources of funding in order to stay afloat given that Royal Dutch Shell, which provided another large chunk of the group’s seed money, is also not slated to renew its $5 million, 5-year contract with IPAC. It is unclear whether the federal government will renew its $4 million grant through its Western Economic Diversification ministry. IPAC officials have spent time in recent years aiming to line up additional funding, most prominently through a contract with the Asian Development Bank, but little has been made public about its future plans. Shell did not return requests for comment.
Reports Also Question PTRC Contract
As reports about IPAC-CO2’s contracts began to subside, Wilson’s current place of employment, the Regina-based Petroleum Technology Research Centre, began facing similar questions surrounding a sole-sourced IT contract after a provincial official raised questions publically. In a letter to University of Regina President Vianne Timmons dated Feb. 26, Donna Harpauer, the provincial minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Crown Investments Corp., said PTRC “may have” entered into a sole-sourced agreement with ClimbIT, an IT company that “may have some affiliation” with Henry Jaffe—the businessman behind CVI—under the direction of Wilson. Harpauer asked the University to investigate any other contracts that Wilson have been entered with Jaffe. “We would request that the University of Regina provide us with information regarding any contracts, agreements or arrangements between the University of Regina, Mr. Jaffe and/or his corporate entities and any relationship with Dr. Malcolm Wilson,” the letter states.
Timmons said this week that the University “supports and is fully cooperating” with the provincial government’s request. “Work has begun and our preliminary investigation shows no relationship. A final report is expected this week and will be provided to Government,” she said Feb. 26. But a day later, Timmons reportedly said there were no contracts found since 2010.
PTRC Says There Was Value for Money
Meanwhile, the PTRC confirmed it had a sole-source contract with ClimbIT in 2011 to produce a password-protected website and database for its EOR research program. “That website and database were delivered on time and they’re great resources,” Communications Manager Norm Sacuta said in an interview. “We’re happy with the end result.” He emphasized that PTRC does not receive funding from the University of Regina and that ClimbIT was chosen after a “careful review” of the nonprofit’s needs. “We don’t view this as being necessarily connected with the [IPAC issue] at all except for the appearance of conflict-of-interest with Malcolm’s previous experience at IPAC. As far as we’re concerned, this is a separate matter and we plan to cooperate fully with any of our partners who want to check our books,” Sacuta said.
