Evidence of meeting #70 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was donation.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
You are, Mr. Green.
Thank you, Mr. Johnson.
At the beginning of the meeting we agreed that we were going to complete the first round. We've done that, so we have 23 minutes before the vote.
Mr. Johnson, if you could hang around a little bit, we should be back here roughly around 5:10 or 5:15. We have a hard stop, as I mentioned, at six o'clock, so we're going to need to leave some time for in camera committee business.
My expectation is that we'll probably get through maybe four questions. We'll start with Mr. Cooper when we get back for five minutes. Then we'll go to Ms. Hepfner, and then Mr. Villemure and Mr. Green. After that we're going to determine where we are on time.
Go ahead, Mr. Barrett, before we suspend.
Conservative
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Yes, if there were consensus, we would have time for an additional round and seven minutes to get upstairs to the chamber.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
I'm okay with that. I didn't want to be so bold as to ask, but we could probably have Mr. Cooper, and one more, Ms. Hepfner, right after that.
Are we okay with that?
Conservative
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Johnson, for appearing.
Just so I'm fully clear, there's been no progress made, no offer, no accounting firm, nothing has happened with respect to undertaking a review.
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
I can't speak to that, because I haven't been involved.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Okay.
On March 1, a cheque was written to return the donation. That was the day following the report in The Globe and Mail. Who was that cheque made out to?
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
I don't recall. I don't know. I wasn't involved with that cheque. That would have been the function of management.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
You have no idea whom the cheque was made out to.
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
I'm told it was the donor, and I have no reason to question that.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Well, Mr. Johnson—through you, Mr. Chair—you said, on April 12, 2023, in the National Post that the $140,000 had been refunded to the same person who was on the cheque and the same person who issued receipts for the Canada Revenue Agency for the donation.
Those are your words, so surely you must be able to state who that person or entity is.
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
I wasn't interviewed by the.... I didn't talk to the National Post. I don't know where that comes from.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
That is what the National Post attributed to you on April 12, 2023.
Further to that, Ms. Fournier stated in her testimony that you were involved in crafting the March 1, 2023, statement from her indicating that the foundation had refunded the money to the donor. Were you involved in crafting that statement?
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
Yes, I was.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
You're telling me that you otherwise have no idea, even though you apparently said that the funds were returned to the donor.
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
That's correct, because I had assurances from Dr. Fournier that was the case.
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Dr. Fournier indicated that, upon the cheque's being sent, it came back to the foundation and that, as of March 23, it had come back for a final time before a decision was made to sit on it and to essentially freeze those funds.
Has that cheque since been returned? Has it been cashed?
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
The funds have been returned to the donor.
Conservative
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
Yes, subsequent—
Chair of the Board of the Foundation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation
I can't tell you the name. That's the—
Conservative
Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB
Mr. Johnson, you're the chair of the Trudeau Foundation, aren't you?
