The President of The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation has resigned. His resignation was not unconnected with the foundation’s involvement in the ongoing foreign interference controversy.
The foundation said that a $200,000 donation in 2016 from a businessman linked to the Chinese government “has put a great deal of pressure on the foundation’s management and volunteer board of directors, as well as on our staff and our community.”
“The circumstances created by the politicization of the foundation have made it impossible to continue with the status quo, and the volunteer board of directors has resigned, as has the president and CEO,” the statement said.
The president and entire board of directors at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation resigned because of what they call ‘politicization,’ partly linked to a 2016 donation from a Chinese donor.
“The Trudeau Foundation is a foundation with which I have absolutely no intersection,” Trudeau told a news conference.
“It is a shame to see the level of toxicity and political polarization that is going on in our country these days, but I am certain that the Trudeau Foundation will be able to continue to ensure that research into the social studies and humanities at the highest levels across Canadian academic institutions continues for many years to come.”
Former governor general David Johnston was appointed by Prime Minister Trudeau as a special rapporteur to investigate foreign interference in Canadian elections and institutions.
Three directors will remain on an interim basis while a new board is appointed.
Its president and CEO, Pascale Fournier, had been in the position for almost five years.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre reacted to the news of the resignation by calling for an investigation into the charity.
“We need to investigate the Beijing-funded Trudeau Foundation,” Poilievre tweeted.
“We need to know who got rich, who got paid and who got privilege and power from Justin Trudeau as a result of funding to the Trudeau Foundation.”
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the resignations make the 2016 donation look more suspicious. The leader called on the government to begin a public inquiry into the interference.
“Nothing else will do,” Blanchet said in a French statement.
The foundation made a statement saying that ‘the circumstances created by the politicization of the foundation have made it impossible to continue with the status quo.’
“What we’ve seen from both the Liberals and the Conservatives, they’re more interested in scoring political points, pointing fingers at each other,” Singh told a news conference.
“When it comes to something as serious as our democracy, the goal shouldn’t be to score points … We’ve been saying we need a public inquiry to get to the truth, to give Canadians confidence.”
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