Trudeau Foundation CEO, board resigns over alleged Chinese election interference

The CEO and board of directors of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation have announced they’re resigning. They say it’s due to the recent politicization of the foundation, amid much public discussion around alleged Chinese election interference.

The mass resignation was explained with a statement saying, “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.”

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The statement points to pressure on management and the board after a report in the Globe and Mail connected a $200,000 donation from a Chinese businessman in 2016 to allegations of attempted election interference by the government in Beijing. The foundation refunded the donation in March.

The leader of the opposition, Pierre Poilievre connected the independent non-partisan charity named after former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, to his son, prime minister Justin Trudeau.

We need to investigate the Beijing-funded Trudeau Foundation.

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.https://t.co/chIDQ8lh0j

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) April 11, 2023

Justin Trudeau pushed back saying, “It’s a foundation in my father’s name that I have no direct or indirect connection with.” And he condemns conservatives who he says are trying to score political points, “by increasing polarization and partisanship in this country, by launching completely unfounded and ungrounded attacks.”

Trudeau picked former foundation CEO Morris Rosenberg to author a report on attempted foreign interference in the 2021 election. This a report the conservatives say is not credible because Rosenberg was CEO when that $200,000 donation was accepted.

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Trudeau also selected former Governor General David Johnston to be the foreign interference special rapporteur. Johnston’s suitability was questioned by other parties due to his connection to the Trudeau Foundation.

McMaster political science professor Peter Graefe suspects voters will be less moved by Tory attempts to connect the foundation to the prime minister, than recent reporting that Canada’s spy agency CSIS had warned the government about attempted Chinese interference in the 2019 election.

Graefe says, “I think that touches much more closely the question of the fair dealing of the government and its competence in ensuring electoral integrity.”

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NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was asked about the foundation’s resignation today. He said he remains concerned about foreign election interference but feels both conservatives and liberals are using the issue to try and score political points.