Information & Ethics Committee on May 2nd, 2023

[Morris Rosenberg]

This came out of discussions that my staff had with the Université de Montréal and with the donor over the course of several months that were the result of the meeting I mentioned on September 24, 2014. There was a committee set up, and as a result of that, by September 2015, the donors had agreed that some of the money should go to the foundation.

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

I have very limited time.

It took two years, based on public reporting, to negotiate this donation, but within a five-month period of the finalization and the money being flowed to the foundation, both of the gentlemen named as donors had direct access to meet with the Prime Minister as well as the Prime Minister's brother and senior people at the foundation.

Do you understand why that set of circumstances is concerning for Canadians? These individuals have been identified in public reporting based on CSIS documents as cut-outs acting on behalf of the Communist dictatorship in Beijing.

[Morris Rosenberg]

All I can say on that is—

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

Do you understand why that's concerning for Canadians?

[Morris Rosenberg]

I read the newspapers, and I can understand why people would draw inferences from that, but the negotiations that took place that culminated in this agreement ended before the election in 2015. In fact, these documents will point out that somewhere around September 11, 2015, there were plans to have the announcement ceremony in Montreal because the donors were in Montreal.

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

Are you talking about the donors to the foundation or the university?

[Morris Rosenberg]

In September—

[The Chair, Conservative, John Brassard]

I'm sorry. I'll have to end it there. You'll have to pick it up later.

Mr. Rosenberg, I'm not sure whether you understand French.

You can listen to the interpretation if you need to.

Ms. Martinez Ferrada, the floor is yours for six minutes.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for being here with us, Mr. Rosenberg.

I am going to ask you several questions at once, because I want to make sure that all the information you give us appears in the transcript.

On Friday, Pascale Fournier said that the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was not a partisan organization. Do you think that under you, the foundation was a partisan organization, one way or another?

[Morris Rosenberg]

No, Mr. Chair, not at all.

As a public servant, I always acted in an independent and nonpartisan manner. In fact, when I accepted the position at the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, I knew that it was an independent, nonpartisan organization.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Can you say that while you were there, you never had partisan relationships with the government or a political party, either before or after the current government came to power?

[Morris Rosenberg]

That is correct.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Perfect.

Can you also say, as Ms. Fournier did on Friday, that the staff were not selected on the basis of their political background?

[Morris Rosenberg]

Absolutely not. As well, I have never been a member of any political party.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

I imagine you have never made political donations.

[Morris Rosenberg]

I have not made any.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Ms. Fournier said that no one in the organization engaged in lobbying or participated in organizing party political events.

[Morris Rosenberg]

That is correct.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Okay.

Ms. Fournier also said that the Prime Minister had not been invited and had not received any materials related to your membership meetings or to your board of directors or governance committees.

Was that the same situation during your term?

[Morris Rosenberg]

Certainly.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

So you have never provided information from the foundation to the government?

[Morris Rosenberg]

Never.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Okay.

[Morris Rosenberg]

In fact, there have been exceptions.

I had an obligation to report to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Hochelaga, QC]

Okay.

Since you received public funding, you had to report to it on your activities, but you did so in connection with your contractual obligations with the government in relation to the donation.

You did it in any case because you were receiving public funding and you had to provide a report on your activities, but that was in connection with your contractual obligations to the government regarding the donation. Is that correct?