The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation says it has returned a $200,000 donation made in 2016 by a successful Beijing businessman and political advisor who reportedly received a promise of reimbursement from the Chinese Communist Party had.
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“As an independent charity with no political affiliation, ethics and integrity are part of our core values and we cannot keep any donation that may have been sponsored by a foreign government without our knowledge,” said the Foundation’s President and CEO, Pascale Fournier.
“In light of these latest allegations, the foundation has refunded the full amount of the donation received directly to the donor,” Ms. Fournier continued in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, The Globe & Mail, with the help of an unidentified source within the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), claimed that the $200,000 donation was part of a Chinese Communist Party’s strategy of influencing Canadian politics.
The program will focus on “billionaire” Zhang Bin, whom The Globe & Mail describes as “a political adviser to the government in Beijing and a senior figure in the network of Chinese state sponsors around the world.”
Mr Bin was reportedly persuaded to donate $200,000 to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, in addition to $750,000 in contributions to the University of Montreal Law School and $50,000 towards a statue of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
These donations, totaling $1 million, are said to have been made with the contribution of another wealthy businessman, Niu Gensheng.
These revelations come as the Trudeau government weathers a storm over Chinese interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Opposition parties in the House of Commons are all calling for a public and independent commission of inquiry to be set up, but Justin Trudeau says enough is being done to stop attempts at interference.