Evidence of meeting #67 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was foundation.
A video is available from Parliament.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Who did she say was the donor? Who did she ask that the cheque—
9:50 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
She did not say who the donor was.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Okay.
Upon your review of the various emails between the foundation and the donation, was there correspondence either to or from officials in the PMO?
9:50 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
Can you repeat your question?
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Upon your review of the emails, did you identify any emails between the foundation and officials in the PMO, the Prime Minister's office?
9:50 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
I don't have anything with me now, but I vaguely remember some emails with the PMO and Elise Comtois, who was the executive director. I don't have anything with me, but I believe there were emails regarding the press release, because there were articles in the newspaper in 2016 about the Chinese donation. I don't remember precisely.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
There were emails from 2016. Can you elaborate on what those emails were? Why was the PMO suddenly contacting the Trudeau Foundation about this donation?
9:50 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
I have no idea.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
You have no idea.
Were there other emails you noted, other than in 2016, between the foundation and the PMO?
9:50 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
I have not seen other emails. With the CFO, we immediately reached out to the board for emergency meetings and said we didn't want to look into this matter—that we wanted experts to look into these emails and to understand and reconstitute the past. I don't have more information.
9:50 a.m.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
On March 1, you issued a statement in which you stated that the foundation had “refunded to the donor all amounts received”. Those were the precise words in that statement. Of course, the money had not been refunded to the donor.
Who was involved in drafting that statement, and why was it stated that the money had been sent back to the donor when, in fact, that had not happened?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
It was the executive committee of the board of directors. The two individuals who signed the cheque were Peter Sahlas and Bruce McNiven.
The drafting of the declaration was done with the executive committee of the board, Peter Sahlas, Bruce McNiven, Ted Johnson, Martha Durdin and Dyane Adam. We drafted that declaration together with some help on the communications side, and it was accurate that we were on that day issuing a cheque signed by Bruce McNiven and Pete Sahlas. It was physically sent to the address we had on file, so there was nothing incorrect about that. It was about two weeks before the cheque was finally sent back to the foundation.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Mr. Cooper, I'm going to ask you to pick this up in the next round of questioning, please, because we're over time.
Mr. Bains, I believe you're next for six minutes.
Go ahead, sir, on Zoom.
April 28th, 2023 / 9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witness for joining us today.
My first question, Madam Fournier, is this. The foundation was set up with a $125-million endowment, which it invests. Is it the foundation's primary source of revenue?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
It is. At the foundation we live off the interest, so we can't touch the $125 million. We invest that endowment and we live off the interest. It is the primary source. It is public money.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
What percentage of the foundation's revenue comes from charitable donations?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
I don't have the exact number, but it is a very small proportion compared with the rest of the money we spend to fund the scholars, fellows and mentors.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
How many scholarships did the Trudeau Foundation award in 2022?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
In 2022 we had 13 scholars, six mentors and four fellows.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
Do you know how many the foundation has provided since it was created?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
It's probably around 285.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
What engagement, if any, does the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation take part in during Canada's elections?
9:55 a.m.
Former President and Chief Excecutif Officer at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and Full Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, As an Individual
I have not witnessed any involvement.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Parm Bains Liberal Steveston—Richmond East, BC
During your term, did you notice any influence at all from other countries or foreign influence agents?