Charity drops Trudeau refund request, kicks out several board members
OTTAWA — The New Brunswick charity at the centre of a political firestorm over Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s public-speaking fees this past spring has dropped its request for a refund.
The Grace Foundation has also cut ties with several board members, including one blamed for leaking a “private” letter about the issue to the federal Conservatives.
The moves come weeks after the foundation, which supports an 80-bed nursing home in Saint John, said it was “deeply distressed” the issue had become fodder for partisan attacks.
Foundation chairman Ian Webster could not be reached Monday.
But Trudeau spokeswoman Kate Monfette said the Liberal leader’s office was in recent contact with Webster “and he informed us that they will not be requesting a reimbursement. “They consider this matter closed,” Monfette added.
The foundation’s board of directors wrote in March to Speakers’ Spotlight, the agency through which Trudeau was hired for a June 2012 fundraiser, asking that his $20,000 speaking fee be returned because the event resulted in “huge disappointment and financial loss.” The board says it decided to let the issue drop in May when it received no response.
But Trudeau offered to repay the foundation last month after the Prime Minister’s Office got hold of the letter sent to Speakers’ Spotlight and circulated it to the media as part of a campaign criticizing Trudeau for taking money from charities.
Local Conservative MP Rob Moore later revealed it was board member Judith Baxter who informed him of the request to Trudeau and gave him a copy of the letter.
The Harper government appointed Baxter to the board of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in 2007 and again in 2011, and her husband is a member of Moore’s federal Conservative riding association.
The Grace Foundation board has said it did not give Baxter or anyone else permission to approach Moore “or any other political person” to champion the organization’s request for a refund.
The foundation’s website on Monday showed five of the organization’s 10 board members no longer listed, including Baxter.
Reached at her home by telephone, Baxter confirmed she was no longer with the board but otherwise refused to comment before hanging up.
Fellow board member Susan Buck, who wrote the letter to Speakers’ Spotlight, was also dropped as a director, and refused to comment.
Seniors’ organizations and municipal politicians in Saint John have said it is “sad” the Grace Foundation got dragged into a political melee, and that the organization isn’t partisan but supports an important nursing home in the community.
In addition to the Grace Foundation, Trudeau offered to repay any other organization unhappy with any speech for which they had paid him since he was elected to Parliament in October 2008. Monfette said none had made such a request.
Trudeau revealed to the Ottawa Citizen in February that he was paid a total of $277,000 by 17 organizations that hired him to appear at events while he was a member of Parliament.