There are lots of criticisms of the Trudeau Foundation. Some are ridiculous, but that does not mean that there are not some serious problems with the governance of the Trudeau Foundation. For those who think that the Foundation does some very good work (and I have no reason to doubt that), there is a limited window of opportunity to make some modest changes to the foundation so that it can get on with its work.
I have suggested before that 1) they change their name so that it does not reference the family name of the current prime minister, 2) the members of the Foundation are changed to bring in new people who are not so closely affiliated with the Trudeau family. These changes could happen in about a week if there were a desire to make them happen.
If these changes are not made, it is likely that criticisms will persist, both legitimate and not so legitimate. Yes, it is possible that attention will move away from the Foundation and people will forget this story, but it is not that likely especially since so much taxpayer money is at play. It is not inconceivable that the Foundation will not exist in six months or a year. Yes, you will be able to blame that on Pierre Poilievre or the former CEO or the Chinese Government or whoever you want to blame. I think that the blame will be largely on Trudeau and his family for not proactively dealing with a number of very questionable decisions relating to the Foundation going back to 2008 when Trudeau entered politics.
I am starting to feel a tiny bit sorry for the Chinese government. I think, by most accounts, the Chinese government is pretty smart. In this case they made a mistake. They erroneously thought that contributing to the Trudeau Foundation might curry favour with a new government in Canada. They were confused by the name Trudeau Foundation, that members of Trudeau’s family were directors and members and even Trudeau himself is still a member (although ‘inactive’). The Foundation had a lot of close Trudeau family confidantes and it might be hard for some to see the dividing line. I think that the Chinese government is probably still confused. Let us help the Chinese government to understand that the Foundation is actually almost completely funded by taxpayers and that it is separate from Mr. Trudeau and his family. Let us change the name of the Foundation and change the members. I doubt the Chinese government will thank you, but at least they (and many others) will be less likely to be confused.
My weekly reminder that the Trudeau Foundation is a non-profit corporation under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”). Under the CNCA, if you receive over $10,000 in public funds in any of the last three years, you are a soliciting corporation and need to file your financial statements with Corporations Canada. The Trudeau Foundation say they are non-soliciting and have not filed financial statements. It seems pretty clear that they are soliciting, and they are about eight years behind in these filings. Just to give you an idea – it takes about 10-20 minutes to file all those financial statements with Corporations Canada. I have been blogging about this for a couple of months and nothing seems to be happening on the transparency front. The CNCA is a federal law, and the Trudeau Foundation should comply with these clear-cut legal requirements. The failure to even do the most basic things when reminded of them is another reason that the whole governance structure should be revised.