'Utterly unjustifiable': Trudeau Foundation chair calls out 'attacks' against organization amid foreign interference allegations

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation board of directors chairperson Edward Johnson says the organization has been subjected to 'unwarranted and unfair attacks' amid foreign interference allegations.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation board of directors chairperson Edward Johnson says the organization has been subjected to "unwarranted and unfair attacks" amid foreign interference allegations.

Johnson testified Tuesday before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, which has been studying foreign interference and threats to Canada's democratic institutions since mid-March, building on the work of another House committee given the heightened scrutiny of foreign interference attempts in Canada.

It was reported in the Globe and Mail in February that the foundation several years ago had accepted $140,000 in donations from two Chinese businessmen with ties to the regime in Beijing.

Johnson called recent negative opinions of the foundation — since reports of the donation came to light — "utterly unjustifiable."

He also repeated the message from two previous witnesses — former foundation board member and the prime minister's brother, Alexandre Trudeau, and former foundation president Morris Rosenberg — that he doesn't believe any foreign interference took place through the foundation.

"My own view is that there has never been an opportunity for a so-called foreign influence operation to influence the foundation," Johnson said.

The board chair also said while he's "in no position" to categorically refute all the reporting around the donation, he can say some of the specifics are, to his knowledge, incorrect.