Carney pushes back when questioned about financial assets

Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back on reporter questions about his financial holdings during a news conference on Tuesday.

Carney announced last week that he has put his financial assets into a blind trust to shield himself from any conflict of interests.

But that hasn't stopped Conservatives from calling on the new prime minister to publicly disclose his financial holdings, suggesting that Canada could be in an election campaign before Carney's assets are publicly disclosed.

A blind trust means Carney's financial assets are handled by a trustee who has the legal authority to manage them but who is barred from seeking his input. Carney wouldn't know what is in his blind trust portfolio, but would know what those assets were before they were divested.

Under the current government ethics rules meant to guard against conflict of interests, Carney had 60 days to disclose his assets to the ethics commissioner upon being sworn in and another 60 days before that information goes public.

Asked Monday if he should disclose what financial holdings he had before they were put into the blind trust, Carney said he has exceeded the expectations of the current rules and is being held to a different standard.

Conservative MP and ethics critic Michael Barrett awaits the start of a committee meeting on Jan. 17, 2024. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

"I'm complying with the rules of the ethics commissioner, going through the processes and all those things that are necessary," he said, before pivoting to point out that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has refused to get his security clearance.

When pressed by reporters about his assets, Carney pushed back and said the questions rely on an assumption of "ill will."

"Your line of questioning is trying to invent new rules. I'm complying with the rules that Parliament has laid out and… I will continue to comply with those rules," he said.

On Sunday, Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett wrote an open letter to Carney, calling on him to disclose his assets.

"Canadians deserve to know that their Prime Minister is making decisions in the national interest and be assured that they are free from any undue corporate influence," Barrett wrote.

Prior to entering politics, Carney served on the board of directors of some prominent businesses, non-profits and philanthropic organizations, including one of Canada's largest publicly traded companies, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM).

According to company records, as of April 2024, Carney held some 41,000 deferred share units (DSUs), which can be cashed in for BAM common stock at a later date. The stock currently trades at roughly $82 a share, which means, on paper, those DSUs could be worth more than $3 million.

Carney also held 303,049 stock options as of last year, which can in turn be liquidated sometime next decade.

The company valued those options at $1.7 million US as of last April, but they could be worth much more than that later on.