Information & Ethics Committee on May 9th, 2023

[Edward Johnson]

There was cross-party support throughout the House.

There was never a vote. One party was a little less enthusiastic than the others, but the rest were overwhelmingly in favour. The speeches from all the parties on that occasion back in February 2002 are quite moving.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Would you be able to say that the Trudeau Foundation is a non-partisan organization?

[Edward Johnson]

It is very much so, from the get-go.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

As part of your governance structure, are all your staff screened to that effect?

[Edward Johnson]

Are all our staff which?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Are they screened in terms of being non-partisan?

[Edward Johnson]

They are not formally, but the fact is we've.... I don't recall any identifiable party people involved with the staffing of the foundation.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Okay.

The previous witnesses here made it pretty clear that, in their opinion, there was no foreign influence in terms of this specific donation. As you've indicated, it was not $1 million, as some colleagues keep quoting. As a matter of fact, it was a $200,000 donation and the foundation only received $140,000.

When the Globe and Mail article came to light, did you feel that it tainted the ability of the foundation to keep the donation, in terms of the high level of integrity of scholarship and the work that it's done over the past 22 years?

[Edward Johnson]

That's correct.

We felt that we did not want to have that smear hanging over us. We are special because of our name, particularly, and we're vulnerable to political attack, so that was very much operating on our mind.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Maintaining the integrity of the foundation and the good work that it has done over the past 22 years was the priority in that decision-making process around the donation?

[Edward Johnson]

Absolutely. It was very much so.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

How has this process impacted the foundation in terms of the work that it's doing right now?

[Edward Johnson]

It has not impacted our work. We are working ahead and our staff are working energetically, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, to implement our program and to move to the next steps in the natural flow of our program. We hope to be naming a new scholar cohort very soon. We have a number of scholar-related leadership events in the works.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Leading into that, you mentioned scholarship events. Are any of those scholarship events...? Previous testimonies indicated that these events are non-partisan in their activities—

[Edward Johnson]

That's correct.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Can you confirm that the activities of the foundation are, in fact, non-partisan?

[Edward Johnson]

Absolutely, I can.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Are the scholarship recipients vetted?

[Edward Johnson]

Are they vetted?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

In terms of their partisan or ideological—

[Edward Johnson]

Not at all. No.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

What are the criteria for those scholars to participate in what is known as a prestigious program?

[Edward Johnson]

There's an intensive interview application process through the review of the applications, and then there are the interviews with semi-finalists and the selection of finalists. It's a long and very labour-intensive process.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

I will ask this last question.

Since you have been with the foundation for the past 22 years, you have seen its evolution. Do you see the process of the governance structure as having grown over time to be robust in its consideration of all its activities?

[Edward Johnson]

Yes, I believe it has and very much so.