The Commons Public Accounts committee unanimously voted 10-0 on Thursday to instruct the Auditor General to investigate the initial funds provided by taxpayers to support the Trudeau Foundation..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the government gave the Foundation $125 million, some of which was used to purchase stocks in China..“I would like that the Auditor General within her powers look into the original agreement with the Government of Canada, which gave $125 million to the Trudeau Foundation,” said Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné (Terrebonne, QC), sponsor of the motion. .“They had criteria to respect.”.“It is very unusual that a foundation with the name of an individual receive public funds,” said Sinclair-Desgagné. .“There are many foundations that have names of individuals, but they never receive public funds like the Trudeau Foundation. That imposes some responsibilities and obligations and we need to make sure.”.MPs 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.”.“The language could not be any clearer,” said Sinclair-Desgagné. .“We are asking for an investigation. I think that’s quite clear. That is what she generally does. She does not ‘review’ an agreement.”.Parliament in 2002 approved the $125 million endowment. “What is a more fitting legacy to the man who symbolized youth, excellence and the innovative spirit?” said then-Prime Minister Jean Chretien..Opposition MPs questioned the funding at the time. “Access to Information does not apply to these foundations,” then-Canadian Alliance MP Val Meredith (Surrey-White Rock, BC) told a 2003 Commons Public Accounts committee hearing. .“We don’t have any control over what the agreement says, what they do with the money or whether they are spending it in the way it is supposed to be spent.”.Earlier, people said that up to 2021, the Foundation had an unknown amount of money in Chinese company shares..“We had two investments,” Edward Johnson, chair of the board, told a June 8 hearing. .The China portfolio had stocks in Tencent Holdings Limited, a video game company from Shenzhen, and in the software firm Baidu..The Foundation received a $140,000 donation from someone linked to China's Communist Youth League. After this came out, the CEO and the board quickly stepped down on April 10..Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed he was not involved with the Foundation named after his family. However, his brother Alexandre was the executive director and he did meet with a donor from China..“Those people who are trying to get short-term political gain by increasing polarization and partisanship in this country by launching completely unfounded and ungrounded attacks against charities or foundations must not succeed,” Trudeau told reporters on April 11.
