I just read an article from La Presse entitled «Ce don, c’est une bombe puante». It involved a number of interviews with former directors and mentors at the Trudeau Foundation. I was commenting earlier today that comparisons between WE Charity and the Trudeau Foundation were uncalled for unless one is trying to sink the Trudeau Foundation. Based on reading the La Presse article it may still be that comparisons with WE Charity are not that helpful, but certainly, the situation is far worse than what was publicly known.
When one compares what was said on April 11, 2023, by the Trudeau Foundation and the information in the La Presse article today if it is correct, there are some very big problems here. Keep in mind that $125 million in taxpayer money was put into the Trudeau Foundation in 2002, and the endowment is now $168 million.
Here are some of the inconsistencies as it appears today:
- The Trudeau Foundation said they had refunded the monies donated by a donor. I thought that was a bad idea. Well, apparently, the Trudeau Foundation has not refunded the money! Perhaps as I have suggested, if they really want to disgorge the money, they can find a worthy charity to give it to. (From La Presse “Except that this refund could never materialize. “Until recently, my understanding was that the donation had been refunded. But at the latest news, it was not, “says another resigning member of the board of directors, whom we will call E. F.”).
- The Trudeau Foundation said that the CEO had resigned. In fact, it appears that a number of senior staff have resigned.
- The Trudeau Foundation said that the resignations were the result of “politicization”. It made it sound like directors were resigning because of attention from others outside the organization. It appears that the resignations were more about internal governance concerns and some board members losing confidence in the Trudeau Foundation.
- One of those who resigned said there was “bullying and even threatening behaviour”. This is not to be considered something normal at any charity, especially one that has so much taxpayer money.
- The Trudeau Foundation did not mention that eight members of the board apparently wanted an independent investigation. For some reason, not clear to me, no independent investigation was ordered and instead a large number of directors resigned.
Previously we had known that there were problems – mandatory filings not done by the Trudeau Foundation and claims by the PM that he has a relationship or involvement in the Trudeau Foundation. In fact, he is still a member (listed as inactive), and his brother is still a member. So, it is a little much to say no relationship.
The WE Charity saga turned into a multi-year scandal that thanks to WE Charity and its few remaining backers, will probably continue to be discussed for a long time. Trudeau, and some of his most partisan supporters, did not do a great job of handling the WE Charity scandal. Is this going to be a replay? Hopefully not.
If one truly believes that the Trudeau Foundation is doing good work – and I have no reason to believe that they are not doing some very good work – then now is the time to make some governance changes. I have blogged about that before – change the name of the Foundation and put in new MEMBERS, not just directors who will have the confidence of the Canadian people.
Will this change happen – probably not, but if those easy-to-accomplish things are not done, then the Trudeau Foundation will continue to be an easy target for those who are interested in greater transparency and accountability in the charity sector, plus certain people who will take any opportunity to bash the Liberals and Justin Trudeau. Please don’t complain in a year or two if the foundation is shut down – now is the time to fix the problems so that it can continue to do its charitable work. The status quo is not acceptable.
There will be a lot to learn about governance, and lack thereof, from this example. Interestingly, the real dissension apparently only started in late March 2023. So, it has only been for a few weeks.
Here is a Google translate of the original French article:
“THIS GIFT IS A STINKY BOMB”
La Presse was able to talk to five people who resigned from the Trudeau Foundation because of “ethical” issues raised by a donation from China.
KATIA GAGNON AND MÉLANIE MARQUIS
THE PRESS
Eight members of the board of directors, four members of senior management and six people acting as mentors resigned en bloc on Tuesday from the Trudeau Foundation because of major “ethical” issues raised by the “Chinese donation” made to the foundation in 2016 and 2017.
The reason given by the Foundation in the official statement issued on Tuesday, namely the “politicization” of this donation from China, “it is a bunch of lies,” one of the resigning members of the board of directors told La Presse, whom we will call A. B.
In total, La Presse was able to speak with five people who left their duties at the Trudeau Foundation. All demanded anonymity, because of the “difficult” climate that prevailed in recent weeks within the organization.
“I have seen bullying and even threatening behavior at the Foundation. It’s not an easy climate. I don’t remember seeing this in my career, “says another member of the board who resigned on Tuesday, whom we will call C. D.
THE CHINESE DONATION, NEVER REFUNDED
The Trudeau Foundation presents itself as a non-partisan organization, and it offers scholarship, mentoring and fellowship programs. It was founded in 2002, after the death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
At the center of the conflict that tore the board of directors, the famous gift that came in theory from an extremely wealthy well-known Chinese businessman, Zhang Bin, close to the Chinese Communist Party.
It was the Chinese government that allegedly ordered the entrepreneur to donate $200,000 to the Trudeau Foundation, the Globe and Mail revealed in February, based on a national security source that reported information intercepted by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (SCS).
The Foundation then undertook to repay this donation. “In light of these recent allegations, the Foundation has refunded the full amount of the donation received directly to the donor,” said the organization’s executive director, Pascale Fournier, on March 1.
Except that this refund could never materialize. “Until recently, my understanding was that the donation had been refunded. But at the latest news, it was not, “says another resigning member of the board of directors, whom we will call E. F.
An internal document from the Foundation, which La Presse obtained, shows that the crisis broke out at the end of March. The board of directors was then alerted to the fact that the name that was on the check for the famous “Chinese donation” would not be the name of the real donor.
The Foundation could, therefore not repay the amount to this “real donor”, since his name did not appear anywhere in the Foundation’s books. Such a refund would therefore have been “illegal”, states the document.
Eight members of the board of directors, who did not sit there at the time the donation was made to the Foundation, then requested that an independent investigation be carried out. They also asked the members of the board of directors who were on the Foundation at the time to refuse any discussion on the subject, since they were “in a patent conflict of interest,” says A. B. “The management really wanted all the light to be shed on this,” confirms a fourth resignation from the Foundation, whom we will call G. H.
“Anyone who was on the finance committee or the audit committee at the time of the donation has a conflict of interest because they accepted these cheques,” continues A. B. They should not, therefore, be part of an investigation into this matter. They should have recused. And they refused. ”
“There are people at the Foundation who have been there for too long, and have become far too involved. An independent investigation would have determined who the donor was, if there were conditions attached to these sums, and the relationships behind all this. ”
— A. B., one of the resigning members of the Trudeau Foundation Board of Directors
“This gift is a stinking bomb,” summarizes G. H. “What we have experienced is an internal governance crisis in relation to the management of this file,” adds C. D. “We have lost confidence in the organization’s ability to handle this file with transparency, integrity and accountability. ”
The “rebellious” members of the board of directors even thought of asking the Office of the Auditor General to look into this whole issue. At the VG Office, spokesman Vincent Frigon says he has not received an audit request from the Foundation.
We contacted the three members of the Foundation who are still in office, to collect their comments. One of them declined our interview offer, the other two did not respond to our requests. The general manager of the foundation, Pascale Fournier, who also resigned on Tuesday, also declined our request for an interview.
Morris Rosenberg, who held the position of president of the Foundation at the time of donations, told us that he had “no information” about the resignations. The Foundation would never have received the sum of $200,000 in full, says Mr. Rosenberg. The donation had to be made in two installments.
LABEAUME “VERY UNEASED”
Former Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume is one of the foundation’s six mentors who also chose to resign on Tuesday. “I was uncomfortable. . Very uncomfortable. . If eight members of the board of directors resign, if the general manager, for whom I have a lot of admiration, resigns, it is because something must happen, “says Mr. Labeaume. Christiane Germain, CEO of the Germain Group, and Mélanie Vincent, an entrepreneur who was a presidential advisor on Aboriginal relations, also chose to leave the ship.
Justin Trudeau was a member of the foundation named after his father, which was created in 2002, but he retired after his election as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2013. His brother, Alexandre Trudeau, is still a member.
The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, estimated on Tuesday that these numerous resignations from the Trudeau Foundation justify the opening of an investigation. “We must investigate the Trudeau Foundation funded by Beijing. We need to know who became rich, who was paid and to whom Justin Trudeau offered privilege and power through funding from the Trudeau Foundation. ”