Information & Ethics Committee on May 2nd, 2023

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

So you issued a tax receipt to a corporation that did not include one of the donors.

[Morris Rosenberg]

Yes, because the corporation was the donor.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

It was not the two people who made the donation.

[Morris Rosenberg]

The money came from the corporation.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

In an annual report in 2016-17, in the information that was shared with the CRA, the name of the company, Millennium Golden Eagle, was not included, but the names of the donors were. Can you explain the discrepancy between that and what you just said?

[Morris Rosenberg]

Yes. I thought I did in my opening remarks by saying that I think it made sense for the foundation, having met its obligations to the CRA, to put down the names of the two individuals who were the face of the donation and in whose name these conferences would be held.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

In any of your board meetings, did any of the board members or any of the senior staff—including legal, financial and otherwise—raise concerns around the discrepancy and the sensitivity of the donations?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I do not recall that they did.

The other thing I will say is that there were controls in place at the foundation to deal with the issue of receipting for donations. As you'll see from the package, the correspondence on the receipting was between two more junior employees of the foundation, along with a representative of the China Cultural Industry Association who was working for Mr. Zhang and who simply said, “Could you please send it to this address?”

When you say instructions from China, they were about what address to send it to.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Was the address in China the address of the China Cultural Industry Association?

[Morris Rosenberg]

The address we have, from the only research I've been able to do, is the same address, ultimately, as the address given for Mr. Zhang in this Canadian government—

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Sure, but I'm sure a Google search or something would probably bring up.... I want you to have the opportunity to put on the record that it wasn't the China Cultural Industry Association, because you would recognize the relationship between the People's Republic of China and this association as being a proxy. Am I right?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I would recognize it. It's what I would call a soft power organization. It was involved in the U of T donation and the U of M donation—two of the biggest universities in Canada.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Here's my last question. You mentioned the governance around the board. I'm trying to determine whether significant governance issues have gotten us here today or there's something more. That's where I'm at.

Can you explain to me the nature of how board members are appointed? I understand there are three categories: ISED appointees, Trudeau family appointees and the members. Is that correct?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I'd call them independent members.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

They're not independent of the family. They make direct appointments, do they not?

[Morris Rosenberg]

No. I'm sorry. The members of the foundation, who are the equivalent of shareholders of a for-profit corporation, have two jobs. One is to choose the auditors. The other is to appoint the board.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Do you mean all of the board?

[Morris Rosenberg]

No, it's the independent members of the board. You have three categories of members: family members, government members and independent members.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Who has the majority of the seats on the board?

[Morris Rosenberg]

The independents do, I believe.

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

Mr. Green, that concludes our first round.

We are going to go back to Mr. Barrett for five minutes.

Mr. Rosenberg, just so you know, on this committee the exchanges typically happen between the members. I'm not so formal as to have it come through the chair, so any interaction you have is directly with committee members.

Go ahead, Mr. Barrett, for five minutes.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Did you follow the CCIA instructions on where to send the receipt?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I believe my staff did. I don't believe I was aware, at the time, of these interactions, and I don't believe I'm copied on any of this material.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

The receipt was sent to Hong Kong and then to Beijing. Is that correct?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I believe so. I should say that the 160 pages of access—