Carney insists he’s following ethics rules with blind trust amid Conservative criticism

The Front Bench Panel talks about how Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded to the recent scrutiny over his personal assets.

Prime Minister Mark Carney insists he’s following the ethics rules when it comes to the disclosure of his assets, amid criticism from the Conservatives that he’s being “sneaky” for withholding the full details from the public.

Carney was asked again Tuesday about the details of his blind trust following a tense exchange with reporters on Monday around the issue.

“These are decisions, of course, of the ethics commissioner,” Carney told reporters in Iqaluit on Tuesday. “As you may recall, my assets have been put into a blind trust well in advance of the requirements, so they’ve been disposed.”

“But what happens is that there’s a discussion with the ethics commissioner for certain screens around certain issues, and that’s a process that is underway,” he added. “It’s a natural process, and of course, it’s part of the way our system works. And I very much respect the system.”

As speculation swirls of an election call being just around the corner, the Conservatives say Carney should proactively disclose his assets, because the 120-day deadline to do so — as laid out in the Conflict of Interest Act — would likely be after Canadians head to the polls.

According to a backgrounder document from the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, public office holders are prohibited from holding controlled assets. Those assets include stocks and bonds, whose value could be directly or indirectly affected by government policies or decisions.

A spokesperson for Carney told CTV News last week that the former two-time central banker has divested all his assets into a blind trust. The signed documentation to that effect was sent to the ethics commissioner when Carney won the leadership, the spokesperson also said at the time.

Carney worked as the head of transition investing for Brookfield Asset Management, a position from which he resigned in order to run for the Liberal leadership.

According to Brookfield Asset Management’s latest annual report, Carney held $6.8 million in stock options as of December, before he quit to launch his Liberal leadership bid.

According to University of Toronto strategic management professor Andrew Stark, blind trusts in this case are meant to work in concert with a “recusal regime” set out by the ethics commissioner to ensure Carney doesn’t work on files that could create a conflict of interest.

“So it would be possible for a committee of cabinet ministers to handle certain issues that might directly affect (Carney’s) interests, and he wouldn’t have to know anything about it, then that would be a fairly adequate way of dealing with the situation,” Stark said, in an interview with CTV News on Tuesday. “And we would take the ethics commissioner’s word for it that he has constructed an appropriate set of screens and recusal, and that should be sufficient.”

Stark said disclosure as the Conservatives are calling for is “unlikely to entirely work either” because a company such as Brookfield — with its own business strategy — may not want to make that information public.

In French on Tuesday, Carney reiterated that decisions about which issues would require him to recuse himself are up to the ethics commissioner, but that when it comes to Brookfield, for example, “it’s clear” those would be screened.

In a statement last week, the ethics commissioner’s office confirmed Carney has been in touch, adding the prime minister has 60 days to disclose all his assets, liabilities, income, and outside activities. The office will work with him on publishing a summary of his personal and financial information within 120 days, the statement also confirmed.

Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett, meanwhile, held a press conference in Ottawa Tuesday in response to the issue, and to Carney’s testy exchange with reporters the day before.

“He doesn’t understand why the media and opposition keep asking questions,” Barrett said, later accusing the prime minister of “twisting himself into a pretzel” to avoid disclosing his assets. “Every time he’s asked about his connections to Brookfield Asset Management or his conflicts, he becomes defensive, deflects, and attacks.”

Barrett said he and the Conservatives are calling on Carney to “immediately disclose” the assets in the blind trust and disclose the conflict of interest management plan laid out by the ethics commissioner.

“If Carney has nothing to hide, he should have no problem doing so,” Barrett said.

Earlier this month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said if he becomes prime minister, he will make changes to the Conflict of Interest Act that would require leadership candidates to disclose their finances within 30 days of becoming an official candidate, and make them available to Canadians within 60 days.

With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello, Rachel Hanes, Stephanie Ha, and Mike Le Couteur