The President and CEO and the members of the Board of Directors of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation are resigning en bloc because of the “political climate” which has “made it impossible to maintain the status quo”.
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“Over the past few weeks, the political climate surrounding a donation received by the Foundation in 2016 has put a lot of pressure on the Foundation’s leadership and volunteer Board of Directors, as well as on our staff and our community,” says the director. organization in a press release on Tuesday morning.
We are talking here about a donation of $200,000 received by a Chinese billionaire, whose links with the Beijing government have raised eyebrows among the political class.
Faced with the facts, the Foundation announced the full reimbursement of the donation.
Image taken from the foundation’s website
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation had also attracted attention, because David Johnston, former governor general retained as special rapporteur on Chinese interference by Justin Trudeau, was among the members of the board of directors.
The operations of the Foundation will be temporarily carried out by three directors who remain in office.