OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Canadian MPs from the House of Commons who sit on the Public Accounts committee voted 10-0 to have the country’s Auditor General investigate the $125 million taxpayer endowment given to help found the scandal-plagued Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation in 2001.
As per Blacklock’s Reporter, MPs on the committee passed the motion that the “Auditor General investigate the funding agreement between the Government of Canada and the Trudeau Foundation particularly as regards to the Foundation’s compliance with its obligations under this agreement.”
Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, the motion’s sponsor, noted that she wanted the Auditor General to “look into the original agreement with the Government of Canada which gave $125 million to the Trudeau Foundation.”
“They had criteria to respect,” she added.
Desgagné observed that it was very “unusual” for a foundation “with the name of an individual receive public funds.”
“There are many foundations that have names of individuals, but they never receive public funds like the Trudeau Foundation,” she said. “That imposes some responsibilities and obligations and we need to make sure.”
Desgagné noted that it is “quite clear” the committee is asking for nothing less than a full “investigation.”
The Foundation was granted by Parliament in 2002 a $125 million endowment, with annual interest from the grant being its main source of revenue.
As of late, the Foundation has come under scrutiny after reports surfaced it accepted a large donation linked to the Communist Chinese Party (CCP).
In April, the entire board of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation resigned after a report surfaced detailing how it received a $200,000 donation alleged to be connected to the Communist Chinese Party (CCP).
LifeSiteNews reported that Morris Rosenberg, the former head of the Foundation, admitted he never questioned the fact that a Canadian charity tax receipt for $140,000 was sent by the Foundation to an address in China linked to a TV production company with a Canadian address.
In 2016, the Foundation received a donation from Millennium Golden Eagle International (Canada), which lists a private home address as its business location.
Millennium Golden Eagle wanted a receipt to be mailed to its address in China, which coincidentally is the same address as CCP affiliated agency named the China Cultural Industry Association.
In April, after the CCP-linked donation scandal broke, the foundation said it would return the money.
Also, the Foundation, as per Edward Johnson, its board chair, testified that the organization as late as 2021 held an undisclosed sum in Chinese stock.
The Foundation labels itself as “an independent and non-partisan charity established in 2001 as a living memorial to the former prime minister.”
When the Trudeau Foundation was founded, then-Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien said, “What is a more fitting legacy to the man who symbolized youth, excellence and the innovative spirit?”
Pierre Trudeau is the late father of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and was prime minister from 1968 until 1984 except for a brief lapse from 1979 to 1980. He was known for his praise to the major totalitarian political systems of his day.
When the Foundation was given its funds initially, opposition MPs at the time questioned why this was allowed.
This is not the first time the committee has voted in favor of investigating the Trudeau Foundation’s finances.
In April, the House of Commons Public Accounts committee voted unanimously to start an investigation into how the Foundation is funded after learning about its CCP-linked donation.
It also appears the Foundation ignored warnings from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) regarding accepting certain cash donations.