Peter Nygard, the Canadian fashion executive accused of sex trafficking underaged girls, has donated numerous times to the Liberal Party of Canada, a review of Elections Canada records shows.
As early as 2004, Nygard donated to the federal Liberals under his own name as well as that of his company, prior to the ban on corporate political donations. Most of the donations were over $1,000.
In 2005, Nygard held a party at his private mansion in the Bahamas. One Finnish newspaper reported that the event was so depraved and lewd that actress Jessica Alba walked out in disgust. Nygard donated $5,000 to the Liberal Party shortly after.
According to Elections Canada, the most recent contribution was for $354.34 in September, 2018.
Within a year of Nygard’s last donation to the Liberal party in 2018, both the FBI and police in the Bahamas were investigating Nygard for rape and sex trafficking.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is accusing Nygard of running a sex trafficking ring, targetting young women and girls. The alleged crimes go back as far as 1995.
In 1980, Nygard was charged with the rape of an 18 year-old girl in Winnipeg, though the charges were eventually dropped after the victim refused to testify.
In December, Nygard was arrested in Winnipeg under the Extradition Act. U.S. authorities have charged Nygard with sex trafficking and racketeering. Nygard is currently in jail and trying to get released on bail until a decision is made on his extradition.
Earlier this week, Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole began the process of removing Derek Sloan from caucus after it was revealed that Sloan’s leadership campaign received a donation from known white supremacist Paul Fromm.
However, Sloan said it’s absurd to expect that any politician to be familiar with the names of every single one of their donors. Fromm’s donation of $131 was one of 13,000 donations to Sloan’s leadership campaign.
In 2020, the Liberal Party of Canada pulled in $2.6 million in individual donations.
