Four months after the Grace Foundation wrote to Justin Trudeau asking about repayment of a speaking fee he’d charged to appear at a fundraising event put on by the foundation and two months after the Prime Minister’s Office distributed copies of the foundation’s letter to reporters, the foundation is apparently no longer seeking repayment, despite Mr. Trudeau’s offer to do so.
And so this particular saga seems to find an end.
Judith Baxter, the Grace Foundation board member who reached out to Conservative MP and provided him with a copy of the foundation’s letter, is apparently no longer with the foundation. Another departed board member suggests he left, in part, because he didn’t see the logic in hiring Mr. Trudeau for the event (“I thought their plans were a little more grandiose than suited the situation”).
Last month, the Grace Foundation declared itself “deeply distressed about many statements made from various persons”—with particular concern expressed about Mr. Moore’s comments—and said that “there was never any intention for this matter to become a political topic of discussion on the floor of the House of Commons.” Nonetheless, the Grace Foundation is now preserved for eternity in the pages of Hansard and the Conservatives are no doubt happy for the welcome distraction this provided during their difficult spring and the questions that were raised about Mr. Trudeau’s conduct.