Liberal Party of Canada Leader Mark Carney can’t seem to shake his controversial past work with the investing firm Brookfield Asset Management. The company’s investments and ties to the communist government in China have the Liberal leader dogged by accusations of foreign conflicts of interest.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre sounded the alarm over what he calls Carney’s potential conflicts of interest with China. Poilievre pointed to the Liberal leader’s ties to a company that allegedly secured a massive loan from a Chinese state bank just weeks after Carney allegedly secretly met with the deputy governor of the Chinese central bank.
Poilievre outlined the questionable timeline in a post to X.
On September 9, 2024, former prime minister Justin Trudeau named Carney the chair of a task force on economic growth.
The following month, Carney met with the deputy director of the People’s Bank of China, according to Poilievre and a Chinese-language news article he cited in his post. Then, a few weeks later, Brookfield allegedly secured a $250 million loan from a Chinese state-owned bank.
The Conservatives previously demanded that Carney reveal his Brookfield stock options to Canadians, accusing the Liberal leader of raking in millions from his past business.
Carney subsequently admitted to potential conflicts of interest, saying that he would “probably” have to recuse himself from decisions on some files.
Poilievre questioned whether Carney could be trusted to act in Canada’s interest given the uncertainty surrounding his financial assets.
“Given that Mr. Carney knows that he still owns massive financial interests in Brookfield, which owes a quarter billion dollars to a Chinese state-controlled bank, how do we know he’s not going to act against our interests in favour of his financial interests?” was one of the many questions Poilievre asked.
He also asked how Carney could stand up to foreign interference while having questionable financial ties.
“We have never in our history had a weak, out-of-touch leader so terribly compromised and conflicted, whose interests go against our national interests,” said Poilievre, who called on Carney to publicly state whether the loan was still in place and if he still owned the assets.
A spokesperson from the Liberal Party of Canada responded to True North about Poilievre’s accusations.
“This is a desperate attempt by Pierre Poilievre to distract from the fact that he refuses to get his security clearance at a time of crisis for Canada. Whether it’s not getting his security clearance, or his friend Danielle Smith confirming he’d follow Donald Trump’s playbook, Pierre Poilievre is the wrong choice at the wrong time,” said the Liberal spokesperson.