Before even considering the Trudeau Foundation, Chinese businessman Zhang Bin only intended to fund the University of Montreal, as he had done in 2013 for the University of Toronto, according to former diplomat Guy Saint- Jacques.
“He told me about it when I was still ambassador,” says the man who represented Canada in China from 2012 to 2016.
In June 2016, a donation of $800,000 was promised to the Université de Montréal by two Chinese businessmen, Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng. An official photo immortalizes the event, on which they appear in the company of rector Guy Breton, vice-rector Guy Lefebvre and dean of the Faculty of Law Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens.
Mr. Saint-Jacques knew some of the protagonists well. He remembers that Zhang Bin, introduced as the nephew of the second donor, Niu Gensheng, had told him of his plan to make a major donation to the University of Montreal. It was the Canadian diplomat who put him in touch with Vice-Rector Guy Lefebvre, at a time “still rosy” when there was little suspicion of China, says the former Canadian ambassador to China.
The Prime Minister’s brother, Alexandre Trudeau, is also present in the photo. On this occasion, he represented the Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Foundation, to which the same men promised an additional donation of $200,000. The foundation is currently in turmoil in connection with this donation. On Tuesday, the members of its board of directors and its CEO announced their resignation en bloc.
The daily The Globe and Mail reported in February that Canadian intelligence believed Mr. Zhang had received instructions from the Chinese state as early as 2014 to donate $1 million, for which he would have been reimbursed, all in order to increase his influence with of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau. The Press later posted that the foundation was at a loss as to who to repay the money to.
historic gift
“It’s clear that someone has [ensuite] brought to the Foundation [Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau] », maintains Guy Saint-Jacques. He has no recollection that Mr. Zhang told him, at that time, of a project to finance an organization other than the University of Montreal and its faculty of law. “But the fact that the bulk of the money went to college confirms that was the original desire. »
An article in the corporate publication of the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal dated September 2016 reported “the largest donation in its history”, intended to finance scholarships for the mobility of Quebec students wishing to study in China and to “honor the memory and leadership of Pierre Elliott Trudeau”, in particular by erecting a statue representing the former Canadian Prime Minister. This was never built, the sums finally received being insufficient.
“It is largely thanks to Mr. Guy Lefebvre [vice-recteur aux relations internationales, à la Francophonie, à la philanthropie et aux relations avec les diplômés] that we owe the close ties that the University of Montreal has forged with Chinese universities”, can we still read in the archives of the faculty’s website.
Guy Lefebvre had not answered the questions of the Duty at the time these lines were written. His colleague Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens, however, clarified by email that the University of Montreal had maintained ties with China through its participation in the training program for Chinese judges, with McGill University, since the 1990s.
“China was until very recently a sought-after partner for governments as well as for universities or private organizations,” he said.
Asked about the intention of the University of Montreal to reimburse this donation, its spokesperson Jeff Heinrich specifies that the establishment considers “all options” in this file. “The way we look at these questions today is different from the way we looked in 2016. […] The University of Montreal had no indication at the time of a possible link between this donation and political interference by a foreign country,” he wrote.
Also in Toronto
A few years earlier, in 2013, Zhang Bin made a similar $800,000 donation to the University of Toronto. He was then presented as the president of a Chinese media network called Millennium Golden Eagle International, the statement read.
The donation, made to the Faculty of Medicine of this university, was intended to honor the memory of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune, famous for having worked in China in the 1930s. The sum was to be used to pay for a bronze statue of the doctor and to create a scholarship program.
According to Guy Saint-Jacques, the universities were above all seeking to increase their funding, at a time when there was still no suspicion of the intentions of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“What I knew was that he [Zhang Bin] was very connected with the Communist Party. He gave me his card, which I still have, and he was a member of that Consultative Conference [la Conférence consultative politique du peuple chinois]. I said to myself: clearly, he is a well-connected guy in the Party. There was a nebulous side where the money comes from. »
In an email to Duty, a spokesperson for the University of Toronto called it “grateful” for the $800,000 donation, which still funds scholarships to this day. “These initiatives are aligned with the University’s mission and approved priorities. [L’Université de Toronto] has guidelines […] which govern relations with [ses] donors. »