The House of Commons public accounts committee wants the auditor general to investigate the original $125 million endowment granted to the Trudeau Foundation.
The House of Commons public accounts committee unanimously voted to order the auditor general to investigate the original $125 million endowment granted to the Trudeau Foundation over 20 years ago, which was partly used to buy Chinese stocks flagged for security risks.
“I would like that the auditor general, within her powers, look into the original agreement with the government of Canada which gave $125 million to the Trudeau Foundation,” said the motion’s sponsor, Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, on Sept. 21, as reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
By a 10-0 vote, the MPs on the committee passed the
motion asking the the auditor general to “investigate the funding agreement between the Government of Canada and the Pierre Trudeau Foundation for the Humanities and Human Sciences Fund, particularly in regard to the Foundation’s compliance with its obligations under this agreement and under the relevant Canadian legislation.”
Back in 2002, Parliament approved a $125 million taxpayers’ endowment to help the foundation conduct its core operations.
The Trudeau Foundation, which describes itself as “
an independent and non-partisan charity,” provides financial support to scholars for doctoral research in a number of themes in the social sciences and humanities arena through its scholarship, mentorship, fellowship, and public interaction
programs.
“We’re at $145 million, up from [the] originally $125 million,”
testified the foundation’s board chair, Edward Johnson, before the same committee on June 8. He said the foundation invests the endowment and uses the investment return to fund its activities, adding that “any excess ... goes back into the endowment.”
The foundation operates “in tight compliance with our funding agreement,” he said.
Earlier Requests for Audit
On April 13, BQ Leader Yves-Francois
Blanchet had
requested an audit by federal Auditor General Karen Hogan to investigate a 2016 Beijing-linked donation sent to the foundation.
This came after a Feb. 28 Globe and Mail
article was published citing a national security source who said the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had uncovered a 2014 plan by Beijing to make a $1 million donation to the foundation through a Chinese businessman and regime insider named Zhang Bin.
Mr. Johnston also wrote to Ms. Hogan a day later “to ask her to investigate all aspects of the receipt and handling of these donations by the foundation,” he told the committee.
Ms. Hogan’s office, however, said it would not investigate, sending a
letter to the committee in April that she was not convinced a review by her office was appropriate.
Natasha Leduc, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hogan, also said at the time that it was not within the attorney general’s authority to examine the source of private donations or the motivations of the donors.
Stocks in Chinese Firms
Ms. Sinclair-Desgagné told the Commons committee on Sept. 21 that it was “very unusual” for a foundation with the name of an individual to receive public funds.“There are many foundations that have names of individuals but they never receive public funds like the Trudeau Foundation. That imposes some responsibilities and obligations and we need to make sure,” the BQ MP said.
Madeleine Redfern, a former foundation board member,
told the Commons ethics committee on June 2 that she inquired a year earlier about whether the foundation had investments in China and was told that 0.07 percent of its portfolio was
invested in Chinese tech giants Tencent and Baidu.
Both companies have been subjects of security warnings.
Tencent is the developer of the widely popular WeChat application. Its use for surveillance and censorship has been
documented by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. The Lab has also
found privacy issues with Baidu’s browser. U.S.-based cyber defence firm Unit 42 previously
reported on Baidu apps on the Android platform leaking sensitive user data.
Redfern did not provide a dollar amount for the value of the Chinese investments. However, the foundation reported over $141.5 million in total investments at fair value in its 2021-22
annual report. This would represent a little under $100,000 if the 0.07 percent is applied to that amount.
The Trudeau Foundation’s volunteer board, including Ms. Redfern, as well as its president and CEO abruptly
resigned on April 10, Easter Monday, after the news broke about the donation the organization received in 2016.
