Trudeau Foundation CEO, board out over alleged Beijing-linked donation – National | 24CA News
The president and CEO, in addition to the whole volunteer board of administrators of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, resigned Tuesday within the wake of “pressure” following a media report detailing a $200,000 donation with alleged ties to Beijing.
That seven-year-old donation, which the muse mentioned it was returning final month following reporting into its alleged hyperlinks to the Chinese authorities, created an atmosphere that made it “impossible to continue with the status quo,” in keeping with a assertion from the group.
“In recent weeks, the political climate surrounding a donation received by the foundation in 2016 has put a great deal of pressure on the foundation’s management and volunteer board of directors, as well as on our staff and our community,” it mentioned.
“The circumstances created by the politicization of the foundation have made it impossible to continue with the status quo, and the volunteer board of directors has resigned, as has the president and CEO.”
It added that three administrators will stay on an interim foundation in order that the muse can proceed to satisfy its obligations pending board renewal, together with in the direction of its students, mentors and fellows.
The Trudeau Foundation was named in a February Globe and Mail report, citing an unnamed nationwide safety supply, that detailed an alleged plot by the Chinese authorities to affect Justin Trudeau after he turned Liberal chief.
The report alleged a Chinese billionaire was instructed by Beijing to donate $1 million to the Trudeau Foundation in 2014, the yr earlier than the Liberals got here to energy underneath Trudeau.
The report says that he and a second rich Chinese businessman donated $1 million in honour of the elder Trudeau in 2016, together with $200,000 to the muse.
Pascale Fournier, the now former president and CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, which the prime minister has not been concerned with since turning into chief, mentioned final month that the quantity was refunded.
More to come back.
— with information from The Canadian Press
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