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Fact check: Viral rumor falsely claims the Trudeau Foundation owns 40% of Acuitas Therapeutics

McKenzie Sadeghi   | Paste BN

The claim: The Trudeau Foundation owns 40% of Acuitas Therapeutics

Following Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke emergency powers in an effort to end ongoing trucker demonstrations, rumors surfaced insinuating a link between the Canadian prime minister’s family charity and a biotechnology company.

Various social media posts circulating online claim the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation owns 40% of Acuitas Therapeutics, a Vancouver, British Columbia-based company that specializes in the development of lipid nanoparticle technology used to deliver Pfizer’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine.

“Pfizer-BioNTech uses BC based Acuitas Therapeutics lipid nanoparticle technology,” reads a screenshot of a tweet that was shared to Instagram in a Feb. 19 post that generated more than 4,000 likes in a day. “The Trudeau Foundation owns a 40% stake in Acuitas, through both direct ownership of shares and indirect ownership through shell companies.”

The original Feb. 13 tweet accumulated 13,000 likes, and similar versions of the claim were shared to Twitter, Facebook and Reddit. The rumor gained traction after it was shared during a Feb. 15 podcast featuring Robert Malone, an infectious disease specialist who has been banned from Twitter for sharing COVID-19 misinformation.

But the individuals involved say there is no link between the Trudeau Foundation and Acuitas Therapeutics, as fact-check organizations and news outlets have reported. Further, Trudeau says he cut all ties to the family charity after he was elected to office.

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Paste BN reached out to Malone and the social media users who shared the post for comment. 

No connection between company, foundation

Acuitas Therapeutics and the Trudeau Foundation say the claims circulating online are inaccurate. A search of online reports and financial records shows no evidence of a connection between the two.

"Acuitas Therapeutics is a privately-owned British Columbia company and neither prime minister Trudeau nor the Trudeau Foundation owns or has owned any shares or has any interest in this company," Acuitas Therapeutics President Thomas Madden said in an emailed statement. "There is no connection between the prime minister and/or the Trudeau Foundation and Acuitas Therapeutics." 

Pascale Fournier, president and CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, says the charity complies with ethical investment guidelines and does not direct its investment managers to invest in specific entities. 

"The managers never consult the Foundation whether they should or should not invest in specific entities," Fournier said in an emailed statement. 

Under the Conflict of Interest Act in Canada, public office holders are required to disclose any changes in assets, liabilities and financial interests. Those reports are handled by the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, which maintains a public database. 

Searches of Trudeau, the foundation and Acuitas Therapeutics show no results of a connection. The company is also not listed in any of the Trudeau Foundation's annual reports. 

While Trudeau has previously faced criticism for certain donations made to the charity, he clarified in 2016 that he has had no ties to the foundation for years, according to CBC News.

"I have not been in any way associated formally, or informally, with Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in many, many, years," Trudeau told reporters, adding that he stepped down from family-related responsibilities after the election "to demonstrate that there is a tremendous separation." 

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Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that the Trudeau Foundation owns 40% of Acuitas Therapeutics. The company is privately owned and said that neither Trudeau nor his family's foundation have ever owned any shares of Acuitas Therapeutics. A search of public financial reports shows no link between Trudeau and the company. Trudeau stepped away from the family foundation after being elected. 

Our fact-check sources: 

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