Former governor general David Johnston yesterday agreed to take MPs’ questions over his role at the Trudeau Foundation. Johnston for weeks ignored requests that he appear before the Commons public accounts committee and narrowly avoided a summons last Thursday.

“I am happy and pleased,” said Conservative MP John Williamson (New Brunswick Southwest), chair of the committee. Johnson “agreed to appear” likely by June 15, he said.

Johnston had refused to discuss his role as a member of the Trudeau Foundation that misrepresented a $140,000 gift from a Chinese donor as a Canadian contribution. Liberal MPs on the public accounts committee opposed summoning him as a hostile witness.