Beijing-linked donation to Trudeau Foundation head raised no initial concerns

The former head of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, Morris Rosenberg, says concerns were never raised to him about a large donation to the charity from two Chinese businessmen connected to Beijing.

His successor Pascale Fournier told a parliamentary committee that people connected to the donors were communicating with foundation employees about omitting information on a tax receipt related to the $140,000 gift from billionaire Zhang Bin and another man.

Rosenberg, who was in charge at the time, said he was unaware of such emails and trusted his employees to properly administer donations, adding that the issue was not raised in the foundation's own audits or by the Canada Revenue Agency.

"I don't recall there ever being a red flag about that," he said.

Rosenberg, a former public servant who also authored a report on Canada's handling of foreign interference in the 2021 election, was speaking to a parliamentary committee Monday.

He said he believes everyone involved with the donation was working in Canada's best interests at the time.

"The whole world was courting China, whether it was businesses, academic institutions and governments," Rosenberg said.

Zhang is the president of a Chinese cultural organization that says it operates under the "total leadership" of the Communist government and was formed with the approval of China's State Council, which is synonymous with the central government.

Zhang is also listed as the chairman of Millennium Golden Eagle International, the company that the Trudeau Foundation recently returned the donation to, on multiple privately run Chinese company registries.

Rosenberg said the foundation's board was aware they were dealing with Chinese individuals and weren't hiding it at the time.

"We weren't suspicious, I guess partly because we didn't think there was anything to this that was asking us to do anything untoward," he said. "We basically had a free run with what we were going to do with this money."

He said it did not raise red flags that the donors asked for the receipt to be made out to Millennium Golden Eagle International.

"People control corporations, and they will decide for whatever reason to use the corporation," he said.

The money, Rosenberg says, was "not a huge deal" because the amount wasn't very significant.

"We were, you know, in the process of putting on these major conferences, most of our energy was going into that, and not thinking through this," he said.

But he also said he was not aware that Zhang attended a pricey Liberal fundraiser that became known a "cash-for-access" event.

"We didn't know at the time. If somebody had told me that that had happened, I think that it would have given me some pause and we certainly would have done further investigation."

Rosenberg told members of the committee he was concerned with the future of the Trudeau Foundation and called for a speedy resolution to its ongoing controversies.

"I think it'll be challenging to find a new president until these issues are clarified. I think the same is true with respect to finding new board members and that's why I think it has to be done quickly," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2023.