Brookfield takes political heat over Mark Carney's ties with Trudeau
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party and the current favourite to win the next election, attacked former central banker Mark Carney for agreeing to help Justin Trudeau on economic policy.
Carney, who’s chair of Brookfield Asset Management and head of its transition investing group, is giving advice to the prime minister’s Liberal Party on economic growth and productivity in advance of the next campaign, which is due in 2025.
Poilievre alleged Carney was attempting to duck conflict-of-interest disclosures by developing policy for the political party, rather than taking a government position. “He gets all the power and all the money and none of the accountability,” the Conservative chief said, referring to Carney as a “phantom finance minister.”
It’s a signal that the more Carney becomes involved in partisan politics, the more his business associations may be pulled into the fray. Carney holds a series of other business and philanthropic positions, including roles on the advisory board of Pacific Investment Management Co. and chair of Bloomberg Inc.
Poilievre went on to criticize Brookfield directly, calling it a “large multinational corporation that’s moving investment to China” and stating that the firm buys stakes in international fossil fuel projects while Carney opposes them in Canada for environmental reasons.
Carney has publicly said he agreed with Trudeau’s decision to quash the Northern Gateway oil pipeline project, but that some oil and gas investments are still necessary during the clean-energy transition.
Neither Carney nor Brookfield, a Toronto-based global investment firm that manages about US$1 trillion in assets, immediately responded to requests for comment.
Carney — who has the rare
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