OTTAWA – The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford finally appeared before a parliamentary committee examining foreign interference in Canada’s electoral system on Tuesday, but despite testifying for over two-and-half hours, ultimately said very little that shed any light on the matter.
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation has asked the Auditor-General to investigate a controversial donation from two wealthy Chinese businessmen, who were acting at the behest of the government of China.
A foundation official said the chair of the foundation, Ted Johnson, wrote to Auditor-General Karen Hogan on Friday to request a formal audit of the non-profit organization, which was set up with a $125-million endowment from the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien in 2002. The Globe and Mail is not naming the official, because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Katie Telford wanted to be very clear, she could neither confirm nor deny any allegations about China’s election interference.
Telford, chief of staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau since he was first elected in 2015, was testifying before a Commons committee on Friday.
When the CEO and the entire board of directors of the Trudeau Foundation resigned en masse this week, they issued a statement blaming the “political climate” surrounding a donation that it now appears was connected to the Chinese government. It was all to do with “the politicization of the foundation,” they said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added to that narrative the same day. After making clear he’s had nothing to do for the past 10 years with the foundation created to honour his father, the PM declared “it is a shame to see the level of toxicity and political polarization that is going on in our country these days.”
That, as they say, did not age well …
Katie Telford refuses to answer a question on whether Global News’ reporting on foreign interference is accurate. pic.twitter.com/EXHaaM1sAI
— The Real Andy Lee Show (@RealAndyLeeShow) April 14, 2023
Twitter “Katie Telford”
The former Liberal cabinet minister who oversaw the creation of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation claims Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is engaging in “ignorant, irresponsible and highly partisan” attacks.
Poilievre called for an investigation into the foundation earlier this week, posting on Twitter about a need to know who “got rich” as a result of donations to the foundation, as well as “who got paid and who got privilege.”
Allan Rock created the corrupt Trudeau Foundation with $125M of our taxdollars. https://t.co/DcELlBzX62
— Dean Skoreyko (@bcbluecon) April 14, 2023
Ahead of Friday testimony from his chief of staff on foreign election interference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he and Katie Telford have talked about the issue “many” times over the years.
“The conversations I have with my chief of staff, and with my entire government, and with our defence and security experts, are ongoing,” Trudeau told reporters on Thursday. “We have been talking about foreign interference for years.”
A businessman whose reported donations to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation led to the resignation of its CEO is the president of a Chinese cultural organization that says it operates under the authority of the communist government.
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Chinese community members in Vancouver have told him of “intimidation, harassment and abuse” linked to foreign governments or their proxies, confirming the need for a foreign agent registry.
Mendicino said he met Wednesday with a “robust cross-section” of people from the communities.
The results, he said, reinforced the need for a registry of agents who are acting on behalf of foreign governments in Canada.
The LPC should be registered as a foreign agent.
Surely, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau now realizes that his self-appointed “special rapporteur” and life-long friend, David Johnston, isn’t going to solve his problems when Johnston advises him by May 23 whether he should hold a public inquiry into alleged interference by Beijing in the last two federal elections.
The Trudeau Liberals are as committed as ever to the shameless argument that the scandal is not Chinese interference into Canadian affairs, but the fact that China’s meddling was revealed to the public. It is a tactic that can’t withstand anyone looking too closely, or facts getting in the way, as was the case with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation this week.
The charity said Wednesday that it would conduct an investigation into a $200,000 donation allegedly made on behalf of the Chinese government in an apparent attempt at influencing Justin Trudeau. That announcement came after the CEO and the entire board of directors of the foundation resigned, and after the Liberals tried to blame “Conservative” attacks for the upheaval.
On Sept. 29, 1972, a story appeared on the front page of The Washington Post that began as follows: “John N. Mitchell, while serving as U.S. Attorney General, personally controlled a secret Republican fund that was used to gather information about the Democrats, according to sources involved in the Watergate investigation.”
Not “allegedly.” Not “reputedly.” The story flat out accuses the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government of running a political espionage operation on the side, with the obvious implication that this might have included the Watergate break-in.
Within the next month, Katie Telford will gain a new distinction — she will be the longest serving chief of staff to any Canadian prime minister since the position was created in the late 1970s.
It might not be how Telford would have predicted things would turn out when she first met Justin Trudeau almost 17 years ago in Toronto, but much about their working relationship has hinged on what wasn’t exactly expected.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is criticizing former governor general David Johnston for his previous membership with the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, which has received funding from the Chinese regime in the past.
Johnston was recently appointed “independent special rapporteur” by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to investigate Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.
The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation says it will be launching an independent review of the organization’s acceptance of a donation “with a potential connection to the Chinese government.”
The foundation’s board reached this unanimous decision prior to dissolution, according to board chair Edward Johnson.
“This review will be conducted by an accounting firm instructed by a law firm, neither of which were previously involved with the Foundation,” Johnson said in a statement to CTV News.
