The University of Montreal was the main target of the Chinese donor for the Trudeau Foundation

Before Chinese businessman Zhang Bin even thought about the Trudeau Foundation, according to former diplomat Guy Saint-Jacques, he only intended to fund the University of Montreal, like he did for the University of Toronto in 2013.

“He told me about it when I was ambassador,” says the man who represented Canada in China from 2012 to 2016.

In June 2016, two Chinese businessmen, Zhang Bin and Niu Gensheng, pledged a $800,000 donation to the Université de Montréal. An official photo immortalizes the event, where they appear accompanied by Rector Guy Breton, Vice Rector Guy Lefebvre and Dean of the Faculty of Law Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens.

Mr. Saint-Jacques knew some of the protagonists well. He recalls that Zhang Bin, who was introduced as the nephew of the second donor, Niu Gensheng, told him about his plan to make a larger donation to the University of Montreal. It was the Canadian diplomat who put him in touch with Vice Rector Guy Lefebvre in a “still rosy” period when there was little distrust of China, says former Canadian ambassador to China.

Also in the photo is the Prime Minister’s brother, Alexandre Trudeau. On that occasion he represented the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, to which the same men pledged an additional donation of $200,000. The foundation is currently in turmoil over this donation. On Tuesday, the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO announced their resignations en bloc.

The daily The Globe and the Mail reported in February that Canadian intelligence believed Mr Zhang had received instructions from the Chinese state back in 2014 to donate $1 million, for which he would have been reimbursed, to increase his influence over Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. The press later announced that the foundation was at a loss as to who to pay the money back to.

historical gift

“It’s clear someone has [ensuite] contributed to the foundation [Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau] », claims Guy Saint-Jacques. He does not remember Mr. Zhang telling him at the time about a project to fund an organization other than the University of Montreal and its law school. “But the fact that most of the money went to college confirms that that was the original desire. »

An article in the September 2016 corporate publication of the Université de Montréal School of Law reported “the largest donation in its history” intended to fund mobility grants for Quebec students wishing to study in China and ” to honor the memory”. and leadership of “Pierre Elliott Trudeau”, notably through the erection of a statue representing the former Prime Minister of Canada. This was never built as the sums eventually received were insufficient.

“This is mainly thanks to Mr Guy Lefebvre [vice-recteur aux relations internationales, à la Francophonie, à la philanthropie et aux relations avec les diplômés] that we owe the close relationships that the University of Montreal has established with Chinese universities”, we can still read Website Archive the faculty.

Guy Lefebvre had not answered the questions Duty when these lines were written. However, his colleague Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens clarified via email that the University of Montreal has had ties with China since the 1990s through its participation in the Chinese judges training program with McGill University.

“Until recently, China was a sought-after partner for governments as well as universities or private organizations,” he said.

When asked about the University of Montreal’s intention to return this donation, spokesman Jeff Heinrich states that the institution is considering “all options” in this filing. “The way we look at these questions today is different than it was in 2016. […] At the time, the University of Montreal had no indication of a possible connection between this donation and political interference from a foreign country,” he wrote.

Also in Toronto

A few years earlier, in 2013, Zhang Bin made a similar donation of $800,000 to the University of Toronto. He will then be introduced as the president of a Chinese media network called Millennium Golden Eagle International, reads in the press release.

The donation to that university’s medical school was intended to honor the memory of Canadian physician Norman Bethune, famous for his work in China in the 1930s, and to use the sum to pay for a bronze statue of the physician and to create a fellowship program.

According to Guy Saint-Jacques, universities were primarily looking to increase their funding at a time when there was no suspicion of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s intentions.

“What I knew was that he [Zhang Bin] was very closely associated with the Communist Party. He gave me his card, which I still have, and he was a member of that consultative conference [la Conférence consultative politique du peuple chinois]. I said to myself: Sure, he’s a well-connected guy in the party. There was a nebulous side to where the money came from. »

In an email to Duty, a spokesman for the University of Toronto, called her “grateful” for the $800,000 donation, which funds scholarships to date. “These initiatives are consistent with the University’s mission and recognized priorities. [L’Université de Toronto] has guidelines […] to regulate the relationships [ses] dispenser. »

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Andrea Hunt

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