Sacha Trudeau denies Trudeau Foundation was target of foreign influence, says Chinese donor is ‘honourable’
‘We’re wasting our time on the notion of interference. I have seen no trace of it,’ Sacha Trudeau told MPs on the ethics committee
Author of the article:Catherine Lévesque
Published May 03, 2023
OTTAWA – Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau said the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was never the target of foreign interference and it is a waste of time to suggest that is the case.
Speaking at the parliamentary committee on ethics, Trudeau pushed back against suggestions that the $200,000 deal he signed with Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin years ago for the foundation bearing his father’s name was an attempt to influence his brother, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We’re wasting our time on the notion of interference. I have seen no trace of it,” Sacha Trudeau told MPs during his testimony on Wednesday evening.
Trudeau, a filmmaker and author, served as a volunteer in the Trudeau Foundation for 20 years. He rarely gives interviews or offers public insight but insisted on appearing in front of the parliamentary committee in an effort to correct the record about the Trudeau Foundation.
“So there were a lot of things I felt needed to be corrected for the good work of the Foundation to continue and for all the doubts that are being thrown around about it to stop,” he said.
He particularly took issue with a recent Globe and Mail revelation that Canada’s spy agency had captured a conversation between an official at one of China’s consulates in Canada instructing Zhang to donate a large sum to the Trudeau Foundation for which he would be reimbursed.
Trudeau claimed it was “poor journalism” to rely on a single source, and challenged MPs who pressed him on the issue if they had themselves heard the CSIS wiretap.
Trudeau told MPs he was first approached by law department officials from the University of Montreal about the donation in December 2013, which was a “long way” from any idea that his brother might one day form government or even become leader of the opposition.
At the time, the Conservatives were in government and the NDP was the official opposition.
Trudeau described the deal for the donation as a “four-way agreement” between the foundation, himself as representative of the Trudeau family, the University of Montreal and the donor.
“The main reason I signed is because Morris (Rosenberg, CEO of the foundation at the time) asked me to. I also had signing authority at the time.”
Zhang pledged to give the Trudeau Foundation $200,000, but the foundation ultimately only received two cheques of $70,000. Trudeau said that money was ultimately never spent. It has since been returned to the entity that issued the cheques.
Chinese billionaire donor, Zhang Bin, by Trudeau’s account, initially only wanted to donate to the University of Montreal in the same way that he had donated to the University of Toronto years earlier and did not want to “complicate” things by giving to the Trudeau Foundation.
“I have no reason to doubt that this man never tried anything that would look like interference. So as far as I’m concerned, he’s an honourable man,” said Trudeau.
Trudeau also participated in the different committees that selected the four presidents of the foundation, including the outgoing head of the foundation Pascale Fournier.
He laid the blame on her for the internal crisis in the foundation that led to her resignation and that of eight other members last month.
Trudeau pushed back against Fournier’s assertions last week that there were irregularities around the issuance of the charitable receipt to Millenium Golden Eagle International, owned by Zhang, and that a Beijing-affiliated group had instructed the foundation what to write on them.
In his opinion, Fournier raised many questions that could have led people to believe there were interference attempts but said they were unfounded.
“This donation came from a private company in good standing in Canada,” argued Trudeau. “This is a company whose bank account is in the Bank of Montreal, governed by very strict rules on money laundering and all the rest.”
Those arguments did nothing to convince Conservative MP Michael Barrett who later replied that drug dealers also have bank accounts, but that does not mean that “they’re running reputable businesses”.
Trudeau also sided with the interim chairperson and founding member of the foundation, Edward Johnson, for any decisions on good corporate governance because of his decades of experience as corporate secretary of Power Corporation of Canada.
“His sense of decorum and respect is incomparable,” said Trudeau.
Fournier had previously said that she attempted to obtain an external audit about the donation, but that certain members of the board at the time refused to recuse themselves. Johnson is set to testify in front of the parliamentary committee at a later date.
Trudeau said that what happened at the Trudeau Foundation was ultimately a “management crisis” and said that “the good news is, it’s over”.
https://nationalpost.com/news/sacha-trudeau-denies-trudeau-foundation-target-of-foreign-influence
