Carney in crisis

 

The ugly reality is revealed.  Prime Minister Carney must abstain from dealings with hundreds of companies in a tangled government-managed conflict of interest screen.

The unseemly situation means that Carney cannot be involved in any government matter that could further his personal interests.  It is an impossible standard to hold, given the extent of his holdings, and the tasks of government in the next two years.

He will have to recuse himself from any discussions involving Brookfield Asset Management, payment processing giant Stripe, and dozens of companies owned or controlled by them as part of an extensive conflict-of-interest screen.

The overdue disclosure posted on the Ethics Commissioner's website said Carney had agreed to set up a conflict-of-interest screen between himself and Brookfield and hundreds of other companies owned or controlled by them.

Carney was formerly chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, which has $1 trillion in assets under management, and also helped lead efforts to raise capital for two major Brookfield clean energy funds. He was also on Stripe’s board of directors.

Carney claims the artificial screen will prevent him from giving preferential treatment to any of the Companies while he exercises his leadership of government. My reasonable conclusion is that it is not a trustworthy statement.

It is a huge ethical dilemma.  The public knew it from the beginning, but the actual details and extent were hidden during the election.  The ethical screen will be administered by Carney’s chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, and Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia, who also have ethical conflicts.

It is said that If Carney is made aware that a matter being discussed involves his ethics screen, he must remove himself from the room and make a public declaration of recusal.  Interestingly that would involve nearly everything the government may decide upon.  To make it work while remaining credible, and properly determining the threshold of disproportionate interest, which is all done in secret, will be a confidence problem that the public will never fully accept.

The ethics screen risk poses a huge challenge, because of the vast scope of the Prime Minister’s role, set against the innumerable list of companies. The Prime Minister’s hand touches nearly all facets of government.  It will be impossible to stay ethical.

It means there would have to be extensive self-policing from Carney himself regarding the ethical conflicts.  In view of how many times he has lied since assuming office, the public will not accept the daily favourable spin the government will provide about significant national files.

There are secrecy laws governing Cabinet business.  A known liar is not likely to be ethical in secret.  Carney’s ethical problems were raised soon after he was first elected Liberal leader.  In the beginning, he was dismissive of the serious problem, but eventually had to admit after being educated, that he required an ethics screen to remain credible.  He did not grasp the standards required for a Prime Minister or a Minister of the Crown, compared to private sector executive management where labyrinths of undeclared alliances and holdings are just a normal part of competitive business.

His ethics disclosure contains an extensive list of companies running sixteen pages, of shares and share options that Carney owns.  In his blind trust, Carney put shares of North of 60 Advisors, Stripe, Partners Value Investments L.P., Cultivo Land PBC, Watershed Technology, and options and deferred share units of the Brookfield Corporation and Brookfield Asset Management.

The assets held by an investment account managed by a third party include shares from AirBnb, Amazon, American Express, Apple, Blackrock, Coca-Cola, Costco, DoorDash, Lockheed Martin, Lululemon, Moderna, Netflix, Palantir Technologies, Pfizer, and Uber.

Just how serious are the problems, one has to carefully digest the implications of the YouTube Videos on the topic published by 'Moose on the Loose'.  View them.  They are astounding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r2tansdGAE

Poilievre says Carney lied about conflicts, given the disclosures that were finally revealed.  We recall when Carney claimed on national TV, he had only cash and real estate holdings, and it turns out he held hundreds of stocks, stock options, and deferred profits from Brookfield.

Along the way, Mark Carney has made numerous falsehoods about his financial portfolio. Speaking at a press conference in Ottawa, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre also accused Carney of using his political pull to personally profit by advancing programs or offering endorsements that would benefit companies in his portfolio.

Before entering politics, Carney was chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, where he led efforts to raise capital for two major clean energy funds.  He was also on Stripe’s board of directors.  So, when any government minister talks about so-called "green" issues, there is a conflict for Carney.

Poilievre said the Liberal leader deceived voters during the federal election campaign when he boasted about his effort to avoid financial ethical conflicts.  “Mr. Carney was not upfront or honest with Canadians,” said Poilievre.

Carney also said then he no longer had any financial connection to Brookfield Asset Management and that he didn’t know what was in his blind trust, both of which Poilievre said aren’t true.

Poilievre said Carney hasn’t gone far enough because Canadians have never before had a Prime Minister with such an extent of conflicts.  Carney has said that he's gone beyond what is necessary or conventional to separate his new job from his personal finances.

However, Poilievre said if Carney doesn’t instead sell all of his corporate assets, the Prime Minister may need to recuse himself multiple times per cabinet meeting to avoid conflicts.  His blind trust isn’t blind in reality, because he knows what stocks he put in it.

In summary, we have a known liar who is a ‘spending Liberal’ and in charge of the nation’s assets, whom we must trust, that what he does in secret will always remain ethical and in the best interests of the country rather than in the interests of a few.

Poilievre says PM lied about conflicts after disclosure of portfolio | National Post