MPs push Carney to sell holdings amid Conflict of Interest Act rewrite

Pressure is mounting to have Prime Minister Mark Carney sell off his millions in stock holdings after MPs called to have Parliament rewrite the Conflict of Interest Act.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

First covered by Blacklock’s Reporter, Conservative MP John Brassard announced during an ethics committee on Friday that he wrote a Supplementary Opinion saying the prime minister’s refusal to sell his stocks was “troubling” in a report to Parliament.

“Conservatives have serious concerns about the Prime Minister’s unprecedented corporate and shareholding interests,” wrote Brassard, who is also chair of the committee.

“Despite this option being available, Mr. Carney chose not to make such arrangements, which would have reduced the serious, ongoing ethical concerns that will now continue to surround Mr. Carney so long as he remains Prime Minister.”

At the time that Carney became prime minister, he held the equivalent of $9.8 million in stock options with Brookfield Corporation, in addition to maintaining shares in Brookfield subsidiaries, affiliates and beneficiaries, including federal contractors.

This was confirmed by Brookfield Chief Operating Officer, Justin Beber, during his ethics committee appearance late last month.

“We have over 2,000 businesses that we own as part of our funds and our investment strategy,” testified Beber.

Conservative MP Jacques Gourde asked Beber whether the Liberals’ budget could “assist” Brookfield in “finalizing certain contracts?”

Beber responded by saying, “I am not close to every single portfolio company we have,” adding, “we have over 2,000.”

The committee has since called for Parliament to review the Conflict of Interest Act.

The committee asked that the review be conducted with the goal of “enhancing transparency, preventing conflicts of interest, avoiding potential or apparent conflicts of interest, regulating public office holders’ ownership of assets in tax havens, limiting the availability of blind trusts as a compliance measure, extending the Act’s provisions to political party leaders and leadership candidates and increasing penalties for non-compliance.”

Despite Carney telling Canadians that he had nothing to hide and no conflicts of interest during both his Liberal leadership bid and his campaign in the last general election, he refused to disclose his assets until July, long after acquiring both positions.

Following the federal ethics disclosure, it was revealed that Carney holds 103 assets that pose potential conflicts, an unprecedented number for a sitting prime minister.

Since then, many more potential conflicts have come to light.

Meanwhile, Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia recently told MPs that he sold his personal shares in Brookfield Corporation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Appearing before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, Sabia said he divested from Brookfield to “simplify” his duties as Canada’s top public servant and to protect the office of the Prime Minister from potential ethical complications.

“I decided to sell those shares because I am an administrator,” Sabia said. “It was simpler. It was more practical not to invest in Brookfield given the Prime Minister’s position and given my role is to protect the Prime Minister and institutions against the perception of a conflict of interest.”