The investment firm chaired by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s newly appointed “finance advisor,” Mark Carney, is facing scrutiny from Conservatives after reports that it is in talks to manage tens of billions in taxpayer and Canadian pension funds.
According to a report by The Logic, Brookfield is asking for $10 billion from taxpayers days after the former Bank of Canada governor was appointed a Liberal party finance advisor. Members of the Conservative Party of Canada are accusing the government of corruption over the suspected deal.
The report, which cites confidential sources, says that the Toronto-based investment firm Brookfield is in discussions to help the firm invest domestically. The investment group is asking to tap into $36 billion from Canada’s largest pension funds, collectively known as the Maple 8 and $10 billion from taxpayers for investment.
This comes a week after Conservatives accused the Liberals of appointing Carney as an advisor to the Liberals instead of giving him an official government role to shield the former Bank of Canada governor from conflict of interest laws.
“Just days after Trudeau appointed Carbon Tax Carney to this senior position, the conflicts of interest are already evident,” reads a Conservative statement released on Wednesday.
The Conservative party alleged the Liberals are engaged in yet another corruption scandal, claiming it’s unethical to allow Carney to advise Justin Trudeau on economic policy while being the chair of Brookfield, as it’s lobbying the government for billions of tax dollars.
Neither Brookfield, Trudeau’s office nor Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland responded to True North’s requests for confirmation or comment. However, the Conservatives said in their Wednesday statement that Freeland refused to comment rather than denying the story outright.
According to a public financial report, Carney made $987,375 from investments with Brookfield in 2023, the same year the firm directly benefited from federal investments made into Entropy Inc., by the Canada Growth Fund a crown corporation created by Freeland in 2022.
“It is unacceptable that Carbon Tax Carney has been given the power by Trudeau to offer him advice on this request,” the CPC said. “If Trudeau were to grant Brookfield’s request, how much would Mark Carney stand to personally profit?”
In addition to The Logic report, the Financial Post reported that Brookfield began lobbying the government once Carney’s former Bank of Canada colleague Stephan Poloz was appointed by Freeland to lead a task force in charge of directing pension funds to invest domestically.
The Conservatives further claim that Carney’s involvement in Brookfield, as it asks the feds for more funds, is shielded by Carney’s “refusal” to register as a lobbyist.
In addition to holding several leadership positions in international investment and consulting firms such as Bloomberg L.P. and Macro Advisory Partners, which have stakes in the financial success of companies such as Uber, Apple, and Mastercard – Carney also works for international institutions such as the United Nations and the World Economic Forum.
The CPC also claimed that the CEO of Telesat, a company which received $2.14 billion in taxpayer loans to build a broadband network for rural Canada, is Carney’s “close friend.”
Starlink Founder and CEO Elon Musk said his company could deliver the service for half the price – an offer which was shut down by the Liberals.
The Liberal party has criticized Conservatives for opposing the investment in Telesat, saying the deal will create “2,000 jobs across the country” and that giving the money to “foreign billionaires” would not.