Liberal leadership frontrunner Mark Carney falsely claimed that he had no part in moving the investment firm he was chair of from Toronto to New York after U.S. President Donald Trump had already begun discussing economic measures against Canada.
When asked if he approved the decision and what it means for his commitment to growing Canada’s economy to have decided to move a Toronto-based company out of Canada amid tariff talks, Carney denied having any part of it.
“I want to correct a few factual things. I was chair of Brookfield Asset Management. I ceased to be chair on the 15th, I think of January, when I announced for leadership,” Carney said after the English liberal leadership debate. “The formal decision of the board happened after I ceased to be on the board, I do not have a connection with Brookfield Asset Management.”
However, a letter signed by Carney on Dec. 1, 2024, almost a week after Trump’s economic threats began, tells a different story.
The letter reveals that Carney, on behalf of the board at Brookfield, urged shareholders to support moving the headquarters to New York and said the board, which he was chairing, “unanimously approved” the arrangement.
Conservatives, including ethics critic Michael Barrett, took to X, calling Carney a liar who can’t be trusted – with receipts.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also chimed in, saying Carney lied about his decision to sell out Canadian jobs.
“Mark Carney said he had nothing to do with Brookfield moving their HQ out of Canada to Trump’s hometown of New York City,” Poilievre said in response to the letter. “Documents show he chaired the board meeting that “unanimously determined” the move, taking jobs away from Canadians. His name is on the letter urging shareholders to approve the move.”
During a press conference Wednesday, Barrett said that Carney lied when asked a question by the media, which makes it all the more important that he release his ethics and disclosure of conflicts of interest before the end of the leadership race. The Liberal leadership race concludes Mar. 9.
“We know that we can’t trust what Mark Carney says. And we now know that he will put profits for himself and for well-connected insiders on Bay Street and now on Wall Street ahead of Canadians,” Barrett said in Ottawa. “It’s crystal clear if Mark Carney wins, Canada loses.”
He said that Carney was answering Trump’s call to bring investment dollars and companies south of the border.
“(Trump) hadn’t even taken office, but he had threatened Canada with unjustified and unjust tariffs on Canada and on Canadians,” Barrett said. “And what was the response from Mark Carney? it was to immediately support his board unanimously voting to move their headquarters from Canada to New York City, not standing up to Donald Trump, not protecting Canadian interests, Canadian investment, Canadian jobs.”
He noted that the move to Brookfield’s headquarters, as outlined in the letter, was to increase profits.
“It was so Mark Carney could make more money and that his well-connected friends would make more money doing exactly what Donald Trump has asked,” he said. “Mark Carney has demonstrated himself to not only be a liar but also to be willing and prepared to do exactly what Donald Trump says and exactly when he asks for it.”