Morris Rosenberg, the former president and CEO of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, says in retrospect the embattled charity was naïve to think it would have “soft power” over China when it accepted money in 2016 with ties to the Chinese government.
The former veteran public servant told a parliamentary committee Tuesday night that, at the time, there was a belief that engaging with Chinese officials would familiarize them with Canadian governance, rule of law and human rights.
“Was that naïve at the time? In hindsight, probably it was naive,” said Rosenberg.
“We felt we could do more good.”
The access to information, privacy and ethics committee has been investigating
