Justin Trudeau’s efforts to distance himself from the Foundation are crumbling as the China interference scandal escalates.
A few days ago, Justin Trudeau was trying to blame the chaos at the Trudeau Foundation on the Conservatives.
A day later, it emerged that the mass resignations happened because the Foundation was refusing to hold an independent investigation of a huge donation they accepted from a donor linked to China:
“However, according to a new story by La Presse, the reason for the resignations given by the Trudeau Foundation isn’t true.
Here are some excerpts (story translated into English from French):
“The reason given by the Foundation in the official press release released on Tuesday, the “politicization” of this donation from China, “is a bunch of lies,” one of the resigning board members told La Presse . administration, which we will call AB
In total, La Presse was able to interview five people who left their positions at the Trudeau Foundation. All requested anonymity, because of the “difficult” climate that reigned in recent weeks within the organization.
“I have seen intimidating and even threatening behavior at the Foundation. It’s not an easy climate. I don’t remember seeing that in my career,” says another board member who resigned on Tuesday, who we’ll call C.D.””
It also turns out the donation was never returned:
“Further, it turns out the “Chinese donation” was never actually returned, despite the Trudeau Foundation claiming they would return it:
“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 reimbursement could never materialize. “Until recently, my understanding was that the donation had been refunded. But last I heard, he wasn’t,” says another resigning board member, who we’ll call EF.”
According to an internal document La Presse obtained, the name on the donation wasn’t the actual name of the donor, and the Trudeau Foundation didn’t have the real name anywhere. As a result, the donation was not refunded.”
Alexandre Trudeau signed agreement for huge donation
If Trudeau thought the story was looking bad for the Trudeau Foundation, it’s now gotten even worse. Turns out, his own brother signed the agreement with two Chinese businessmen who claimed to be donors:
“The member, who was a director of the foundation in 2016, urged the staff member to hand-deliver the $140,000 cheque to the real donor “as the only way to protect the Foundation and turn the page,…
The document says the staff member, who never learned the identity of the alleged real donor, refused to do so, saying it would not “only be unethical but illegal as this is a third party” with which the foundation has no relationship.
The agreement with the two Chinese businessmen who initially took credit for the donation was signed by Alexandre Trudeau””
"The member, who was a director of the foundation in 2016, urged the staff member to hand-deliver the $140,000 cheque to the real donor “as the only way to protect the Foundation and turn the page,…
The document says the staff member, who never learned the identity of the… pic.twitter.com/DUZBmD89ns— Norman Spector (@nspector4) April 13, 2023
Think about what this means: Justin Trudeau’s own brother signed the donation that is at the centre of the chaos engulfing the Trudeau Foundation. That same foundation would have to be a huge part of any investigation into China’s interference in our country. A former member of that foundation – David Johnston – is who Justin Trudeau picked as the ‘Special Rapporteur.’
All of this is absolutely disgusting. Justin Trudeau is obviously deeply tied to all of this, and has zero credibility on the issue of China’s interference because he wants to keep benefitting from it to expand his own political and personal power. Likewise, David Johnston has no credibility here.
Canada needs a full independent public inquiry. Nothing less will suffice, and the more the Liberals refuse to call one the more obvious it is that they can’t be trusted to be loyal to our nation.
Spencer Fernando
