(Accepting a donation of a million dollars to your foundation as a sitting PM as part of the prerequisite to a private meeting with Chinese Billionaires does smell…off… but maybe it’s a coincidence and apparently not against parliamentary ethics, and it seems you don’t become a Billionaire in China without ties to the CCP.)
This is so 2016 though so it’s outside the statute of limitations of voters memories, but…
IMO, it's not off, it should be, if it's not, downright illegal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the top draw at a $1,500 Liberal Party cash-for-access fundraiser at the mansion of a wealthy Chinese-Canadian business executive in May. One of the guests at the event was a well-heeled donor who was seeking Ottawa's final approval to begin operating a new bank aimed at Canada's Chinese community.
The Globe and Mail has learned that wealthy Chinese businessman Zhang Bin who, with a partner, donated $1-million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the University of Montreal Faculty of Law weeks after the fundraiser, also attended the event. Mr. Zhang is a political adviser to the Chinese government in Beijing and a senior apparatchik in the network of Chinese state promotional activities around the world.
Chinese Business Chamber of Commerce chair Benson Wong played host to Mr. Trudeau and 32 other people at his Toronto home. Among the donors was insurance tycoon Shenglin Xian, the founder of Wealth One Bank of Canada, and several Chinese billionaires.
Guests included businessman who donated $1-million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the University of Montreal Faculty of Law weeks after event
www.theglobeandmail.com
Attending the fundraiser appears to breach the ethical rules laid down by Mr. Trudeau after he took office. These "Open and Accountable Government" rules state "there should be no preferential access, or appearance of preferential access" in exchange for political donations.
The fundraiser also appears to violate Liberal Party guidelines that require party officials to ban anyone from attending a fundraiser if they have direct business interests before the government.
Just weeks after the May fundraiser, the Trudeau Foundation and the university announced that Mr. Zhang, who is also president of the China Cultural Industry Association, and another wealthy Chinese businessman, Niu Gensheng, would donate $1-million to the University of Montreal and the Trudeau Foundation "to honour the memory and leadership" of the former prime minister, who opened diplomatic relations with China in 1970.
Of the $1-million endowment, $200,000 went to the Trudeau Foundation, $50,000 will pay for the statue of the elder Mr. Trudeau, and $750,000 will fund University of Montreal Faculty of Law scholarships, which include grants for Quebec students to visit China.
Probably just a coincidence though.
The Prime Minister has come under fire for cash-for-access fundraisers at homes or hotels where Canadians pay up to $1,525 to rub shoulders with Liberal ministers in charge of major spending and policy decisions.
Last Tuesday, Liberal MPs voted down a Conservative Party motion backed by the New Democrats that would have transferred the Open and Accountable rules on lobbying and fundraising to Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson. This would have given Ms. Dawson's office the legal power to crack down on such events.
"During their first year in office, the Liberals have held more than 80 cash-for-access fundraising events featuring lobbyists, lawyers and important stakeholder groups currently doing business with the Government of Canada," Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said.
The Liberal Party said in a Nov. 4 (2016) letter to all cabinet ministers (‘Cuz it’s 2015-ish) and parliamentary secretaries that it takes stringent steps to weed people out of fundraisers if they have direct business dealings with the government. “
Well then, nothing to see here! Move along…” The rest at the above link.
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