With files from Quinn Patrick and Alex Zoltan
A Canadian international aid group bankrolled by nearly $180 million from Global Affairs Canada since 2015 counts five Liberal party donors in its leadership—including a CEO who once ran for a Liberal nomination under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Ottawa’s corridors are no stranger to cozy relationships between the federal government and international aid organizations, but few cases highlight the deep entanglement between government foreign aid funds and political influence quite like Cuso International.
On the surface, Cuso International is a humanitarian organization dedicated to foreign development projects. This charity — funded with nearly $180 million in taxpayer money from Global Affairs Canada since 2015 — has been quietly steered by a leadership team that includes several generous Liberal Party of Canada donors and insiders.
True North has discovered that four members of the organization’s board and executive leadership are listed as donors to the Liberal Party of Canada in Elections Canada records, contributing a combined $11,279.60 when individual donations were added together.
According to Cuso International’s financial statements between 2015 and 2024, the organization received a total of $179,434,291 from Global Affairs Canada via its Volunteer Cooperation Program and other funds. When accounting for GAC’s total budgeted funding going back to 2007, that figure reaches nearly $289 million.
This funding accounts for a significant portion of the organization’s overall revenue, with GAC contributions making up as much as 69.18% of total revenue in 2016.
True North reached out to Cuso International with questions regarding its Global Affairs Canada funding and leadership donation history but did not receive a response.
At the helm of this publicly funded organization is CEO Nicolas Moyer, a self-described social entrepreneur who once sought a nomination under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s banner.
In 2016, Moyer declared himself “thrilled and honoured” to be approved as a nomination candidate for the Ottawa–Vanier riding, though he ultimately lost to Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Mona Fortier. Moyer was even photographed cheerily smiling beside Trudeau – a photo that remains on his candidacy’s Facebook profile.
His ambitions were clear, as was his financial support for the party — he has donated over $9,000 to the Liberals between 2017 and 2022 according to Elections Canada contribution records.
Moyer is far from the only connection between the lucrative Cuso International and the governing federal Liberals. Board of Directors Co-chair Lori Spadorcia is an even more generous donor to the party and has a past as a Liberal staffer.
Elections Canada contribution data shows Spadorcia has personally contributed more than $13,000 to the party. Her ties stretch back to the Paul Martin days when she was hired as a director of policy under former Liberal Minister Bill Graham.
Coincidentally, Spadorcia was also photographed with then-Liberal Party of Canada leader Trudeau in 2013 while she was the VP of communication and partnership for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
The ties between Cuso International and the Liberal Party of Canada don’t end there. Denise Amyot, another board member and decorated philanthropist, held senior positions under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, including a role as assistant deputy minister.
More than just a donor, Amyot was quoted by the Liberal Party of Canada publicly praising Trudeau’s 2017 budget, saying she was “very happy” about it as the president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada.
Then there’s Rosemary McCarney, another key figure at Cuso International who was appointed by Trudeau as Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Office on Nuclear Disarmament.
While the Liberal affiliations are dominant, Cuso International’s board is not entirely single-minded when it comes to the political involvement of its leadership. Notably, former Conservative cabinet minister Christian Paradis also sits on Cuso International’s board.
Board member Grant Curtis has also donated to the Liberal Party of Canada and the Green Party of Canada.
The nearly $180 million in government funding directed to Cuso International since 2015 represents more than just foreign aid — it raises questions about whether taxpayer money favours organizations led by those who have financially and politically backed the ruling party.
Is the government knowingly directing public funds to a charity whose leadership overwhelmingly shares its ideological interests? Are Canadians’ tax dollars being used to genuinely help the world’s most vulnerable, or are they financing a network of Liberal loyalists under the banner of international development?
The funded project objectives are telling. Cuso International’s projects align almost perfectly with the Trudeau government’s progressive priorities — diversity, equity, inclusion, gender equality, and climate change. Those projects include the ongoing “Blueprints for Gender Equality” towards which Global Affairs Canada budgeted $2.5 million to “foster more open, inclusive, and gender-responsive governance in Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
These are not broad-based humanitarian efforts but rather ideologically charged initiatives that seem to mirror Liberal policy objectives.
Concerns about the Canadian government’s foreign aid spending are mounting especially as U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered X CEO Elon Musk to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency, unravelling a hornet’s nest of ill-devised and politically suspect funding decisions at USAID.
Among the critics of Canada’s foreign aid spending are former Reform Party leader Preston Manning and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Most recently, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to repurpose foreign aid towards bolstering Canada’s Arctic military presence if elected prime minister.
