Conservative MP Michael Barrett wrote a letter asking Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Belanger to investigate Liberal Leader Mark Carney for potential business conflicts of interest tied to his recent pledge to spend $1 billion on heat pump subsidies.
Barrett’s letter suggests Carney’s announcement “would clearly benefit companies in the heat pump business,” including Brookfield-owned Enercare, which offers heat pump retrofits in Ontario. Barrett asserts that Carney is tied to the company that would directly benefit from such government rebates.
Carney, who previously served as chair of Brookfield Asset Management, has not publicly disclosed his financial interests or ruled out continued ties to Brookfield, according to Barrett.
“This is not the first time that Mr. Carney has been caught using his political influence to advance Brookfield’s heat pump interests,” Barrett wrote in his letter.
He pointed to an October 2024 report in the British newspaper The Telegraph, which revealed that Carney had lobbied the U.K. cabinet for heat pump programs.
At the time, the chairman of BAM subsidiary HomeServe reportedly stated, “Mark is working on our behalf in government.”
Barrett also cited remarks Carney made at the Prime Quadrant Conference in Toronto on October 10, 2024, where he allegedly discussed how he advises governments on policies that benefit investors while Brookfield simultaneously capitalizes on those policies.
“The point being, without the policy … the policy has to drive it and drive things down,” Carney said in remarks reported from the conference, referencing a Brookfield investment in sustainable aviation fuel that followed regulatory changes in the U.K. and EU.
Barrett argues that Carney’s involvement in shaping government policy, while potentially maintaining financial ties to Brookfield, creates a serious ethical concern.
“Mr. Carney should come clean with Canadians and immediately disclose his assets so Canadians can render judgment on Mr. Carney’s conflicts of interest before voting in the election,” Barrett wrote.
While Carney has previously stated that his assets were placed in a blind trust, Barrett argues that Carney still knows what was transferred into that trust, including shares, stock options, or financial bonuses from Brookfield funds he helped establish.
Barrett is urging the Lobbying Commissioner to investigate the matter immediately and called on Carney to provide full transparency on his financial holdings before the election concludes on April 28th.
As part of his broader climate policy, Carney recently announced an expansion of heat pump subsidies, strengthening the current oil-to-heat pump affordability program.
According to his campaign, this initiative is aimed at “allowing low- and middle-income households to save more on their home energy bills.”