Finance committee  —but it is not germane to the issue of terrorist funding.

Finance committee  I'll give you one example. The Yellowstone to Yukon initiative is a registered Canadian charity. It has reported zero financing over a number of years. Actually, the majority of its funding, if I am not mistaken, in the millions of dollars, has come from an American charitable foundation.

Finance committee  Those are very charged words. What I am trying to say is that just because an organization.... If you look at the tax returns of a Canadian charity and you see that it has reported zero foreign funding, that does not mean it hasn't received foreign funding, because it is possible to Canadianize the money through other organizations, as in the exact case I just gave you.

Finance committee  To get the date correct, the first article that I wrote for the Financial Post about the funding of the anti-pipeline campaign was in October 2010. I had been studying the funding of the campaign against salmon farming and aquaculture between 2007 and 2009, and in the spring of 2010 I noticed more than 30 payments for the tar sands campaign and realized that essentially a campaign was starting against some faction, some part of the oil industry.

Finance committee  What I've said is that I've seen no evidence of commercial interest. In other words, I haven't seen a particular refinery that is funding the campaign in order to ensure its supply of oil. I've seen no evidence of a particular oil company per se, but what is very clear is that there are charitable organizations that are working together, coordinating amongst themselves, and that those organizations are funding both conservation initiatives and the tar sands campaign in order to stop the expansion of the Alberta oil industry.

Finance committee  No, I wouldn't say it's illegitimate. It's simply that I think it needs to be out in the open; because this is such an issue of national importance, we need to know who's funding this. The other issue that I've raised is that there's this multi-million dollar campaign against the expansion of Alberta oil; meanwhile there's been an oil boom in Texas and North Dakota and I find absolutely no funding to constrain that industry.

Finance committee  No. As I said, I did my research on the pipeline campaign in 2010 and 2011.

Finance committee  I did research in 2010-2011. In the spring of 2012 the Senate did a study based on some of my work, and Mr. Duffy was a member of that committee. Yes, and I had—

Finance committee  I'll do my best. There are two parts to your question. How are charities being used for illicit activities? I don't think that I necessarily see charities being used for illicit activities. I certainly haven't seen anything illegal, and certainly nothing criminal. As for whether some of the rules are being broken in terms of what charities are allowed to fund, perhaps they are.

Finance committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. My understanding from the clerk is that she wanted to hear from me because of the expertise I've developed around the issue of the funding of the environmental movement, the workings of the charitable sector, and how money has come into Canada from the United States especially, and also other countries.

Finance committee  Yes, thank you.

Finance committee  —the broad interests of the American economy, not any particular company that's behind it.

Finance committee  Well, I didn't have a chance to really respond, but I think it's—

Finance committee  Blanchiment d'argent is money laundering.

Finance committee  I could give you one example, but I wouldn't call it money laundering. I'm not an expert in the field. But I can give you examples of how the purpose of the money changes as the money goes from one place to the next, and the origin and the ends and the objectives are obscured.