Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Independent and non-partisan Canadian charity}}

| image = Logo_Fondation_Trudeau.jpg

| language = EnglishFrench and FrenchEnglish

The '''Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation''' ({{lang-langx|fr|Fondation Pierre Elliott Trudeau}}), commonly called the '''Trudeau Foundation''' ({{lang-langx|fr|Fondation Trudeau}}), is a [[Canadians|Canadian]] charity founded in 2001 named after former Canadian prime minister [[Pierre Trudeau]].

In early 2023, most of the board of directors resigned, in light of a $200,000 donation from Chinese political strategists and billionaire [[Zhang Bin (political strategist)|Zhang Bin]]. The donation wewas reported in mediathe simultaneouscontext toof news[[Chinese aboutgovernment interference in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections|allegations of Chinese politicalgovernment interference in Canadathe 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections]].

The foundation was founded in 2001, one year after the death of Pierre Elliot Trudeau.<ref name=":0" /> In 2002, the [[Government of canada|Government of Canada]] endowed the foundation with $125 million. The organization is obliged to not spend the endowment, but instead invest the money and use income from the investments to fund the its activities.<ref name=":0" /> Justin Trudeau divested his interest in the foundation in 2013 when he entered federal politics.<ref name=":2" /> However, the independence of the foundation from the Prime Minister has been questioned after [[Le Devoir]] reported that the foundation held round table meetings in the [[Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council]] in 2016 following Trudeau's election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bellavance |first1=Joël-Denis |last2=Marquis |first2=Mélanie |last3=Gagnon |first3=Katia |last4=Marquis |first4=Mélanie |title=Fondation Trudeau: Une réunion dans le QG du premier ministre |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2023-04-24/fondation-trudeau/une-reunion-dans-le-qg-du-premier-ministre.php |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=La Presse |date=24 April 2023 |language=fr-CA}}</ref> Justin Trudeau claimed to not have known of the 2016 foundation meeting held in the Prime Minister's office.<ref>{{cite news |title=PM did not know about Trudeau Foundation meeting in office: Holland {{!}} Watch News Videos Online |url=https://globalnews.ca/video/9647441/pm-did-not-know-about-trudeau-foundation-meeting-in-office-holland |access-date=4 May 2023 |work=Global News}}</ref> Donations to the foundation increased after 2013 when Justin Trudeau became the leader of the Liberal Party and again in 2016, after the Liberal Party won the [[2015 Canadian federal election]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |lastlast1=Brownell |firstfirst1=Claire |last2=Schwartz |first2=Zane |date=14 Dec 2016 |title=Money began to rain on Trudeau Foundation once Justin took over Liberals, analysis shows |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/money-began-to-rain-on-trudeau-foundation-once-justin-took-over-liberals-analysis-shows |access-date=2023-04-16 |website=[[National Post]] |language=en-CA}}</ref> The percentage of foreign donors has increased since 2013.<ref name=":4" />

On April 12, the foundation's board chair [[Edward Johnson (lawyer)|Edward Johnson]] said that it would comissioncommission an independent review of Zhang's donation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2023-04-12 |title=What’sWhat's going on with the Trudeau Foundation? Here’sHere's what we know about the controversy that led to a mass resignation |url=https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2023/04/12/whats-going-on-with-the-trudeau-foundation-heres-what-we-know-about-the-controversy-that-led-to-a-mass-resignation.html |access-date=2023-04-16 |website=[[The Toronto Star]] |language=en |archive-date=2023-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414021758/https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2023/04/12/whats-going-on-with-the-trudeau-foundation-heres-what-we-know-about-the-controversy-that-led-to-a-mass-resignation.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The foundation also requested that the [[Auditor General of Canada]] conduct a review, however, the office declined because its mandate is limited to reviews of federal government departments, agencies, [[Crown corporations of Canada|Crown corporations]], and those of territorial governments.<ref>{{cite news |author=[[The Canadian Press]] |date=2023-04-24 |title=Auditor general says she won't probe donations made to Trudeau Foundation |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/auditor-general-trudeau-foundation-1.6820375 |work=[[CBC News]] |access-date=2023-04-25}}</ref> On April 28, 2023, former chair Pascale Fournier testified at a parliamentary ethics committee. Fournier said that she did not know who was behind the $140,000 donation to the foundation and that while the money was formally received from [[Millennium Golden Eagle International|Millennium Golden Eagle International (Canada)]], the company provided an address in Beijing rather than the address in Hong Kong that matched the website address of the company's parent company. The [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service]] intercepted the telecommunications of [[Millennium Golden Eagle International]] leader [[Zhang Bin (political strategist)|Zhang Bin]] and heard promises that the donation would be reimbursed by the Government of China.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-28 |title=Former Trudeau Foundation head says past leadership misled Canadians on Chinese donation |language=en-CA |work=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-former-trudeau-foundation-head-says-past-leadership-misled-canadians/ |access-date=2023-04-29}}</ref>