(OTTAWA) Former Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation leader Morris Rosenberg says he was never made aware of concerns at the time of a large donation to the foundation by two Chinese businessmen with ties to Beijing.
His successor, Pascale Fournier, told a parliamentary committee that people connected to the donors had contacted foundation employees about missing information on a tax receipt for the $140,000 donation from billionaire Zhang Bin and another man.
Mr. Rosenberg, who was the president and CEO at the time, maintained that he had no knowledge of these emails and that he trusted his employees to handle the donations correctly, adding that this issue had not been raised in the foundation’s own audits or by the Canada Revenue Agency.
“I don’t remember there being a warning about it,” he said.
Mr. Rosenberg, a former civil servant who also authored a report on how Canada handled foreign interference in the 2021 federal election, was speaking before a parliamentary committee on Monday.
He said that, for him, everyone involved with the donation was working in the interest of Canada at the time.
“The whole world was courting China, whether it was companies, academic institutions or governments,” Rosenberg said.
Mr. Zhang is the chairman of a Chinese cultural organization that claims to operate under the “full direction” of the communist government and was established with the approval of China’s State Council – synonymous with central government.
Mr. Zhang is also listed in numerous Chinese private company records as chairman of Millennium Golden Eagle International, the company to which the Trudeau Foundation recently returned the donation.
Mr Rosenberg claimed that the foundation’s board knew he was dealing with Chinese people and did not hide it at the time.
“We weren’t suspicious, I guess, partly because we thought we weren’t required to do anything untoward,” he said. We were free to do whatever we wanted with that money. »
Also the fact that the donors requested that the receipt be made out to Millennium Golden Eagle International did not raise concerns, Rosenberg said.
“People control corporations and decide, for one reason or another, to use the corporation,” he said.
According to Mr. Rosenberg, the donation did not appear to be a big concern, because the amount was not very significant.
“We were, you know, doing these big conferences, and most of our energy was going into that,” he said.
Mr. Rosenberg, however, said he did not know that Mr. Zhang participated in an expensive fundraiser organized by the liberals, known as “cash-for-access” (privileged access in exchange for contribution). .
“We didn’t know that at the time. If someone had told me this had happened, I think it would have given me pause and we would certainly have investigated further. »
Rosenberg told committee members he was concerned about the future of the Trudeau Foundation and called for a speedy resolution to ongoing controversies.
“I think it will be difficult to find a new president until these issues are clarified. I think the same goes for finding new board members and that’s why I think it needs to be done quickly,” he said.