Carney puts assets into blind trust as he prepares to become prime minister

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OTTAWA — Incoming prime minister Mark Carney says he has put all his assets other than his “personal real estate” into a blind trust after months of Conservative questions about his potential conflicts of interest.

In a statement Tuesday, spokesperson Audrey Champoux confirmed that Carney had set up a blind trust and provided the confirmation document to the federal ethics commissioner when the Liberal leadership results were announced Sunday evening.

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“We have been actively working with the Ethics Commissioner and we have delivered a full and robust conflict of interest management plan,” she added.

The statement did not detail the plan nor who would administer the blind trust. It also did not detail which assets he may have divested.

Carney will only be bound by federal ethics and conflict of interest law the day he is appointed prime minister by Governor General Mary Simon, which is expected to happen this week.

The Conflict of Interest Act dictates that Carney must disclose his assets to the commissioner and then either dispose of controlled assets or put them into a blind trust administered by a third party within 120 days of his appointment.

Champoux’s statement says Carney has started fulfilling his ethics obligations earlier than strictly necessary, though it’s not quick enough for the Conservatives, who have called on him to do so from the moment he announced he was running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader.

The statement also promised that Carney would complete his compliance process “well in advance” of the 120-day requirement.

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Carney may also be required by Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, if necessary, to set up a conflict of interest screen between him and anyone that could possibly further his private interests.

Any formal conflict of interest screen will be posted on the commissioner’s office’s public registry.

In a statement, ethics commissioner spokesperson Michael Wrobel confirmed that the office had been in touch with Carney’s team but was not at liberty to discuss nor confirm the steps taken by Carney regarding his assets.

The Tories have for months been raising concerns about how Carney, a two-time former central banker who enjoyed a long career in finance, including with different international companies, acted as an adviser to Trudeau.

Trudeau tapped Carney for a special role last fall, where he served as chair on a task force the Liberal party struck to provide Trudeau with insights on economic growth. Carney served in a similar role as the government looked for ways to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which arrived in March 2020.

In the days leading up to Carney’s election as Liberal leader on Sunday, the Conservatives repeatedly said it was troubling that he could become prime minister and potentially trigger an election without disclosing his assets and potential conflicts of interest because of the legislated timeline.

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They accused Carney, who is set to become the first Canadian prime minister who isn’t already an elected member of Parliament, of benefitting from a loophole that Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to close.

If elected prime minister, Poilievre promised last week to amend ethics laws to require party leadership candidates to disclose their financial holdings within 30 days of becoming an official candidate and publish them within 60 days.

“Canadians deserve to know whether their Prime Minister is working against their best interests for their own profit,” Poilievre said in a statement.

Carney promised during his leadership campaign that he had stepped away from “all” professional and advisory roles, namely his position as chair of Brookfield Asset Management. He also said he had quit all his jobs before National Post revealed that he had yet to resign from five volunteer positions.

Carney spent his second full day as Liberal leader receiving briefings from the public service, including the heads of national security agencies. He did not hold any public events after meeting with Liberal MPs on Monday.

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With files from Stephanie Taylor.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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