VANCOUVER—The Vancouver businessman who gave Time magazine a 2001 yearbook photo of Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in brownface is a philanthropic supporter of the city’s private school community.

Michael Adamson issued a statement on Friday saying his decision to provide the U.S. media outlet with the photo was “motivated solely by the belief that the Canadian public had a right to see it.”

Adamson said he is a “past member” of the community around West Point Grey Academy, the school where Trudeau was teaching when he was photographed wearing brownface at an Arabian Nights-themed fundraiser, and was “aware of gossip surrounding the existence of this photograph.”

Time published the picture on Sept. 19, sparking a political firestorm a month before the federal election.

“I am not and have never been a member of a political party. I received no payment for releasing this photograph,” Adamson said.

Adamson has not responded to multiple requests for comment over the past week, including letters delivered to what appears to be the home in Vancouver’s west side he shares with his wife, Hisami Kumi Adamson. The two-storey house is situated in a wealthy neighbourhood in Vancouver’s Arbutus Ridge.

The Adamsons have not donated to or been members of any political parties, according to provincial and federal records.

Adamson graduated in 1980 from the prestigious St. George’s private school in Vancouver, a rival to West Point Grey Academy.

Public records show he and his wife are regular donors to St. George’s and the Vancouver Public Library. They recently started an architecture scholarship at New York’s Cornell University where their son, Bennet Tadashi Adamson, has been studying. A student with the same name attended St. George’s.

The Time magazine reporter who broke the story, Anna Kambhampaty, appears to be friends with Bennet. In an article for The Cornell Daily Sun this May, Kambhampaty wrote a personal piece about “wasting as much time as possible” with her “dear friends Joe and Bennet.”

Kambhampaty and Bennet have not responded to interview requests.

Incorporation documents show Adamson and his wife were former directors of the Vancouver-based export company Kapt-Al Services.

A name-change document from the B.C. government shows Kapt-Al Services changed its name to KSL Global Ventures in 2018. Michael and Hisami are currently listed as directors of the company.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

The company trades in large quantities of Canadian dehydrated alfalfa pellets, according to U.S. customs records.

With files from Joanna Chiu

Read more about: