, 04.12.2023 11:47 AM

My latest: we don’t trust you

When the news broke that the board and leadership of the Trudeau Foundation had resigned, en masse, Justin Trudeau – he whose surname is affixed to said Foundation – was all sad face.

Alighting in Toronto for a meeting about something or the other, Himself sniffed: “It is a shame to see the level of toxicity and political polarization that is going on in our country these days.”

Dramatic pause.

“Those people who are trying to get short-term political gain by increasing polarization and partisanship in this country, by launching completely unfounded and ungrounded attacks against charities or foundations, must not succeed.”

Well, if that’s what “those people” are doing, they’re in fact succeeding, big guy. The Foundation’s board and the CEO all resigned, but not because of “completely unfounded and ungrounded attacks.” Nope.

Nor did they all quit, as the Foundation itself claimed – in a press statement that was as full of self-pity as it was devoid of self-awareness – because the “political climate…has put a great deal of pressure on the Foundation’s management and volunteer Board of Directors, as well as on our staff and our community.”

Well, no, folks. You all had to resign because of you. You, and your apparent inability to conduct business with a modicum of ethics and morality.

So, if the “political climate” has changed, it is because of the aforementioned Justin Trudeau. No one in Canada has done as much to dismantle the good reputation enjoyed by the Trudeau Foundation – and it possessed such a reputation, at one time – than the boy-man whose name is affixed to it: Trudeau.

But that fact always escapes the Trudeau-era Liberals, doesn’t it? When you bona fide oppose one of their policies, they will say you are a mouth-breathing troglodyte. When you critique them, you are accused of being against Canada itself. When you inevitably raise your voice, because you are frustrated that they never change and never listen, you are called racist.

A pithy illustration of this belief that Canada is the Liberal Party and the Liberal Party is Canada was found, comme toujours, on Twitter. After the Trudeau Foundation’s board resigned, having been caught covertly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a man who now very much resembles a Chinese agent, an otherwise thoughtful Liberal MP, Anthony Housefather, tweeted:

“WE charity improved the lives of thousands of kids. The #TrudeauFoundation has helped thousands of students. While charities need to be accountable & merit scrutiny, politicizing them & turning them into punching bags cannot be what is best for Canada.”

See that? To express legitimate concern – about the Chinese regime’s thuggery and criminality, about the willingness of certain elite Canadians to smile and accept graft – is to be against “what is best for Canada.”

Again: no. We’re not.

We – the entire Canadian media, the 72 per cent of Conservatives and 71 per cent of Liberals, respectively, who want a public inquiry into Chinese election malfeasance – are Canada, actually.

We believe, too, that the casual corruption of the Trudeau cabal – as seen with the Aga Khan, with SNC-Lavalin, with the WE “charity,” and now with the Trudeau Foundation – reveal a pattern of casual corruption that is replete with self-dealing and palm-greasing.

So who is to blame for the collapse in trust of government, now hovering – pollsters say – around 80 per cent of us?

It’s not the pesky news media. It’s not the political Opposition in the House of Commons. It’s not the federal ethics commissioner, who quit a few weeks ago, telling the National Post: “The public has to believe that ethics are taken seriously, and they have yet to have any big evidence of that since 2018.”

“2018.” Which precisely coincides, Mr. Trudeau, with your term in office. With you, and your cavalier and craven approach to the most basic rules of conduct.

Want to know why charities and foundations are no longer trusted, sir, and why they’ve been “turned into punching bags,” quote unquote?

Look in a mirror.

You did it.

22 Comments

  1. Peter Williams says:

    “I am not a crook.”

    I notice the firm where Gerry Butts works seems to get a lot of contracts from Justin Trudeau’s government.

  2. the salamander says:

    I read the same info m’man ..

    The Entire Volunteer Board resigned .. as it was the only ‘Class Option’ to do so

    Feel free to describe the Alternatives ..

    You have Valid Sources re the “covert” aspects of receiving an Enormous Donation From ‘China’ ?
    Something ‘nefarious was afoot’ ?

    Your Mentor & former PM disagrees ?

    The ‘WE’ scandal just took a credibility hit btw
    the ‘scandal’ as generally reported is now taking raking fire broadsides.. & listing to starboard.. badly

    I frame grabbed your theory
    & hold you in high regard
    for damn good reasons

    we have jousted in the past..
    but always in good spirit

    ‍☠️

  3. Martin Dixon says:

    If someone does an anal examination of their finances, they will find something. Just a few questions from a cursory review of their 2022 T3010 filing:

    https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/hacc/srch/pub/t3010/v25/t3010Schdl6_dsplyovrvw

    1. Who got the $1,108,398.00 in consulting fees. McKinsey maybe? And why?
    2. What offshore entity donated $385,000.00. That information was provided by the Foundation to the CRA but that section is confidential. WTF.
    3. They only collected $237,592 other than the above but spent $310,350 on fundraising. Not the best ROI.

  4. EsterHazyWasALoser says:

    Dear Justin: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones, or as my dear departed mom would say “Don’t act like your sh*t doesn’t stink”.

  5. Douglas W says:

    He continues to laugh at us, and he knows his job is safe for at least another year, maybe two.

  6. Curious V says:

    The conservatives are manipulative and they play to people’s worst instincts. They politicize everything. I’m non-partisan, like the Trudeau foundation is supposed to be – Conservatives on the fringe run amok, as far as I’m concerned.

    • Sean says:

      “supposed to be”

      that says it all.

      • Martin Dixon says:

        Ha-you beat me to the punch. Curious is remarkably consistent. Nothing to see here, move along, conservatives are evil and I am non-partisan(make a statement like that and, by definition, you aren’t). It really would not matter to him if Justin was a misogynist, black face wearing, justice interfering, multiple ethics violating PM who has committed assault in the HOC and “experiences things differently” in his interactions with women and who has ALWAYS played to people’s worst instincts. Oh…wait.

  7. WestGuy says:

    While numerous articles state that Justin no longer has any connection to the foundation, I remember reading somewhere that he still has some kind of title or status with the organization that would allow him to return at any point but I can’t seem to find the info again. If that is the case then that sure doesn’t sound like “no connection” to me.

    • Martin Dixon says:

      Yes he does. He is known as a “succession” member. From the 2021 annual report, page 49.

      “Succession Members
      Alexandre Trudeau
      Justin Trudeau *
      * NOTE: Inactive member. The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau has
      withdrawn from the affairs of the Foundation for the duration of his involvement in federal politics”

      So if he resigns tomorrow, he has the same position as his brother and has the right to put himself back on the board with his sister and brother(they have the right to appoint three directors if you read the fine print). From The Globe:

      “Justin Trudeau insisted to reporters on Tuesday that he has “absolutely no intersection” with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation”

      He clearly experiences the words “absolutely no intersection” differently than the rest of us. He has a vested interest in seeing that this foundation doesn’t go the way of WE. He will be looking for a gig post politics.

  8. Warren,

    It’s way beyond delicious how HimselfTM clings to power as prime minister when anyone with a sense of decency would have admitted his myriad failings and taken that walk by now. But no, not him. The Trudeau Liberals are ball-less and as such, he will lead them in the next election and both his party and his willing supplicant’s party will get thoroughly decimated in the next election. Trudeau: the guy who came from third and will bring the Liberals right back to third place in the next election. Big O time, politically! God bless.

  9. Sean says:

    The Cabinet / Caucus needs to show the same level of resolve demonstrated by the Trudeau Foundation.

  10. Peter Williams says:

    China, via intermediaries, gives money to the Trudeau Foundation and the Trudeau government gives ‘foreign aid’ to China. Is this how it goes?

  11. PJH says:

    Another devilishly good column, Sir.
    There is one person who could end all this tomorrow. Jagmeet Singh. I suggest the Canadian electorate(the overwhelming majority who do not belong to any political party) will fall on his party like a ton o’ bricks in 2o25, for propping up this ignoble and arrogant PM for far too long. NDP types take heed, the tsunami is coming.

    • Curious V says:

      Where will NDP voters go? If they’re not supporting the NDP, who will they vote for? Usually the liberals, but if their anger is due to the NDP supporting the Liberals, where do their voters go?

      • PJH says:

        Good question The card carrying ones will I suspect, remain with the Party, unless they are those who never wanted Mr. Singh to be Leader in the first place. I suspect many would hold their nose, and vote Conservative(just as yours truly voted NDP provincially for the first time in order to rid the province of a tired and corrupt BC Liberal Gov’t) Campaigns matter, and if PP can strike the right chord, you may find some of the electorate who tend to lean to the NDP may vote for change. Sometimes the end justifies the means.

      • Curious V,

        They vote with their asses firmly in place at home. Just ask Michael what that can do.

  12. western view says:

    Let’s hope that the Liberal Gabfest (coincidentally occurring during a King’s Coronation) will provide some soul searching conversations away from the meeting halls and microphones.
    The Liberal Party members have a say and this is their chance.

  13. Curious V says:

    I watched testimony from a CSIS agent, and he said this issue about China’s interference goes way back to Mulroney – no change.

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