Information & Ethics committee  I said at the end of my remarks, with respect to all this stuff about the Trudeau Foundation and the 2016 donation, that there should be an independent investigation. It think that's different from the broader issue of an investigation into the issue of election interference.

Information & Ethics committee  Mr. David Johnston was a member of the Trudeau Foundation. Is that correct?

Information & Ethics committee  He was a member of the Trudeau Foundation, yes.

Information & Ethics committee  Saint-Jacques and the other is an interview with Mr. Lefebvre. The interview with Mr. Lefebvre said that, absolutely, the Trudeau Foundation wasn't involved from the start. He then says in the article: The involvement of the organization, which was founded in memory of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, even annoyed the Chinese businessman, according to Mr.

Information & Ethics committee  Somebody not only needs to look at the documents but also needs to bring in the people at the Trudeau Foundation who were there at the time. Frankly, maybe somebody should go and speak to the company in Dorval. Maybe somebody should speak to the Canada Revenue Agency about whether they thought there was anything untoward about this.

Information & Ethics committee  You claim the receipt was sent to the registered office of this company, yet in the September 26, 2016, correspondence with the Trudeau Foundation, the address the receipt was requested to be sent to is the same address as the China Cultural Industry Association. Can you explain that?

Information & Ethics committee  Particularly at this time, we are even more sensitive to that. Did you not find it bizarre that the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation would be receiving such a large amount of money right before an election?

Information & Ethics committee  To your knowledge, was Alexandre Trudeau involved in other discussions about other donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation?

Information & Ethics committee  It was probably me, and I will explain why. One of the reasons why I got involved with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation is the fact that, in my opinion, there are too many barriers between the world of research and the world of politics. I thought it was important that people in politics be aware of the research being done, because it is paid for by public funds.

Information & Ethics committee  I'm sorry to interrupt you, but we are pressed for time. It was actually quite surprising to see that the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation was in the Prime Minister's building with access to five deputy ministers. That is not a common occurrence.

Information & Ethics committee  Do you think it was appropriate for you to accept a role to investigate foreign influence in our elections when this had occurred at the Trudeau Foundation, which, as has been reported, seems to be quite clearly an influence operation to target the Prime Minister?

Information & Ethics committee  Trudeau signed this donation agreement in an unusual ceremony with an unusually large donation from a foreign country, which is quite unusual for the Trudeau Foundation. Is that fair? Is this a usual set of circumstances we're talking about here? I highlight that it's so unusual because that's what we're seeing in public reporting. We're seeing that a donation was made by individuals who were effectively cut-outs for a soft power operation and operating on behalf of a Communist dictatorship looking to wield influence in Canada.

Information & Ethics committee  However, I should say something about the article published in the National Post in 2016, which said that there had been a huge increase in foreign donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. At that time, I said that a majority of that money was coming from a foundation registered in Switzerland in the name of John McCall MacBain and his wife, who are Canadian. Mr.

Information & Ethics committee  I would like to start by tabling a motion that has been provided to the clerk, and that I am going to read for you. Moved: That, in the context of the Trudeau Foundation component of the study on foreign interference and threats to the integrity of democratic institutions, intellectual property and the Canadian state, the committee may reinvite the witnesses already heard or other witnesses that the committee deems relevant, following the information that will be revealed by the documents transmitted by Ms.

Information & Ethics committee  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?