The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is governed by a board of up to 18 directors, and Canada’s industry minister has the power to
appoint two of those directors, something charity expert Kate Bahen says she has never seen before.
It’s “highly unusual” for the government to have this influence on a charity, even when the government gives an endowment, Bahen told The Epoch Times.
The foundation, which describes itself as “an independent and non-partisan charity,” began operations when it received a $125 million endowment from the federal government in March 2002.
“Normally, the government just gives you money,” said Bahen, managing director of Charity Intelligence Canada, adding that it doesn’t usually require seats on the board or any other oversight powers.
The Trudeau Foundation was formed as a memorial to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and to provide scholarships and mentorship to “future Engaged Leaders ... in the Social Sciences and Humanities.”
With the late Trudeau’s son, Justin Trudeau, becoming prime minister in 2015, the foundation came under new scrutiny for its points of connection with—and potential influence on—the federal government.
Its entire board recently
resigned following controversy over a
donation made in 2016 by two Chinese businessmen with ties to the Chinese Communist Party. The Globe and Mail
reported in February that, according to a national security source, the donation was part of the regime’s attempts to influence Canadian politicians.
Government-Appointed Seats
The two seats reserved for directors appointed by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development were already empty before the mass resignation.
One government-appointed seat was filled until November 2022 by Marc Renaud, former president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He had been on the board since its inception. He is the only government-appointed director listed in the foundation’s
annual reports throughout its history.
In the most recent
report, the foundation says Renaud “stepped down after years of dedicated volunteer service to the Foundation.”
While it’s unusual to have government-appointed directors on a charity board, Bahen thinks it could be a good thing. Given the allegations of interference, she thinks government oversight of the foundation’s operations may have been helpful.
“The government needs to fill those two board seats with competent directors, not some sort of favour to a friend,” she said. “We really need two really competent people on the board.”
Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher says the more separation there is between such foundations and government, the better.
“All of this just shows how much there has to be clear rules that keep a clear separation between these kind of organizations and the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers and their staff and top government officials, so that the organization cannot become an avenue for influencing any of those people,” Conacher told The Epoch Times via email.
The industry minister’s office did not respond to an Epoch Times inquiry before publication regarding the nature of its relationship with the foundation or any plans to fill the seats.
Other Directors a ‘Who’s Who’
Directors and members of the board are “pretty much a list of who’s who in Canada,” Bahen said, noting that this is similar to other high-profile charitable organizations.In its
first year, the foundation’s board included former provincial premiers Bill Davis and Bob Rae of Ontario and Peter Lougheed of Alberta, former cabinet minister
Marc Lalonde, and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette.
Former Conservative minister Chuck Strahl started out with the foundation as a
mentor in 2012. He served on the board of directors from
2013 to
2016, but resigned after the foundation started holding him up as an example of its bi-partisan nature.
The Trudeau family also has two seats on the board of directors. The prime minister’s sister, Sarah Coyne, and family friend Peter Sahlas filled these seats until Coyne recently resigned with the other directors. Sahlas remains on the board on an
interim basis until new directors are selected.
The prime minister is still listed as a board member on annual reports, though a
note by his name says he “has withdrawn from the affairs of the Foundation for the duration of his involvement in federal politics.”
The extent of Trudeau’s remaining connection with the foundation has been questioned.
In Ottawa on April 18, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet
criticized the prime minister for a recent vacation in Jamaica at the estate of Peter Green, who made a large donation to the Trudeau Foundation two years ago, according to the CBC.
La Presse
reported on April 14 that it had viewed a November 2016 email exchange between Trudeau’s director of issues management and the foundation’s executive director about the controversial China-linked donation, which suggests some level of connection between the Prime Minister’s Office and the foundation.
