Canada’s Prime Minister-designate Mark Carney speaks to the media, on the day he visits the Prime Minister’s office, after being elected Liberal Leader the previous day, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, March 10.Amber Bracken/Reuters
New Liberal Leader Mark Carney has placed all of his financial assets, other than personal real estate, into a blind trust, according to a spokesperson.
A signed blind trust document was sent to Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein this week after Mr. Carney won the party’s leadership. His team says they have been actively working with the ethics commissioner “and we have delivered a full and robust conflict-of-interest management plan.”
The information was provided by Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for Mr. Carney.
As a result of decision, Mr. Carney’s team says he currently does not own anything outside of the blind trust other than cash and real estate. Ms. Champoux did not disclose the value of the assets, nor what was divested. No details were provided as to what potential conflict of interests would be subject to the management plan.
Mr. Carney’s campaign promised last week that he would immediately put his assets in a blind trust if he became prime minister.
Mr. Carney won 85.9 per cent of the vote when the party’s leadership race results were announced Sunday evening.
Michael Wrobel, a spokesperson for the ethics commissioner’s office, said in an e-mail that the Conflict of Interest Act’s confidentiality rules limit what can be said publicly.
“We can confirm that the Commissioner’s Office has indeed been in touch with Mr. Carney’s team. However, we can’t go into the details of what was discussed,” he said.
During the campaign, the Conservative Party called on Mr. Carney to proactively disclose any potential financial conflicts of interest. The Conservatives had noted that the timelines in existing federal conflict of interest rules would not ensure such information is made public before a potential spring election.
Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett said Mr. Carney needs to provide more clarity as to how his assets and conflicts of interest are being managed.
“Mark Carney needs to immediately make his assets and conflicts of interest public so Canadians can judge for themselves. It is Canadians who are ‘blind’ to Carney’s assets and conflicts of interests, as Mark Carney has refused to provide answers,” he said.
The Conflict of Interest Act, a 2006 law that outlines the ethics rules for federal public-office holders, gives individuals subject to the act up to 60 days after taking office to make a confidential report to the ethics commissioner.
The confidential report must include a description of their direct and contingent liabilities, a breakdown of all sources of income over the past 12 months, their charitable work over the past two years and “any other information” the commissioner considers necessary.
In addition, there is a 120-day deadline to make a public declaration of assets and outside activities, subject to some exemptions, and sign off on a summary statement to be posted on the commissioner’s website.
The Conflict of Interest Act says divestment can take one of two forms: selling the controlled assets in an arm’s-length transaction or placing it in a blind trust.
Mr. Carney announced in January that he had resigned from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. and a number of other business roles in order to pursue the Liberal Party leadership.
The former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England also said at that time that he stepped down as chair of the board of media and financial data company Bloomberg LP; the board of payments processor Stripe Inc.; an advisory board for investment giant PIMCO; and as UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance and co-chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, or GFANZ.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of the advocacy group Democracy Watch, criticized the use of blind trusts by senior decision makers.
“A blind trust is a sham façade that hides and does not prevent financial conflicts of interest because the politician knows what investments and assets they put in the trust,” he said.
With reports from Stephanie Levitz and Robert Fife
