The vast majority of Canadians want Liberal leader Mark Carney to reveal his business assets and potential conflicts of interest ahead of election day, according to a new national survey.
The Leger poll commissioned by the National Post asked whether Carney should “voluntarily reveal his business interests” before voters go to the polls at the end of the month and 67 per cent of Canadians said he should.
Carney has been facing mounting pressure for refusing to disclose the assets he placed into a blind trust upon winning the Liberal leadership.
Despite it being his bare minimum legal requirement, Carney has touted to the media that he’s gone above and beyond by filing his disclosure with the ethics commissioner.
Carney held many prominent roles in the private sector over his career, including serving as the chair of Brookfield Asset Management until entering politics, yet he has repeatedly dismissed the notion of having any potential lingering conflicts of interest.
However, Brookfield agreed to lease a New York City property from Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law in 2018. The lease was for a 99-year billion-dollar agreement, which saw the company forking over the full USD $1.1 billion upfront, instead of paying it off annually. Carney still holds $6.8 million in Brookfield options.
Carney was also involved in several high-stakes meetings with top communist China officials while in his former role as the governor of the Bank of England, which resulted in numerous policies reached between the two countries, including allowing foreign companies to operate in each other’s countries.
Such dealings have led some to speculate that Carney may have numerous conflicts of interest and feel it’s in the best interest of Canadian democracy that he comes clean before voters make their decision.
While the Leger poll found that two-thirds of Canadians (64 per cent) say their vote is already final, another one-third (33 per cent) remain open to changing their mind.
Considering that only 17 per cent of Canadians don’t think Carney should have to disclose his assets and another 16 per cent are unsure, it could be the tipping point for many swing voters.
This becomes increasingly true when one considers that “one-third of current Liberal supporters and over half of NDP voters (57 per cent) may switch their vote,” reads the poll.
Whereas, Conservative voters were far more likely (73 per cent) to say that their voting decision was “final.”
Carney has been hostile with reporters for inquiring about his potential conflicts of interest even before he won the Liberal leadership, repeatedly denying it to be a threat to decision-making and even asking a reporter why they would ask such an “odd” question.
However, he ultimately did admitt that he will “probably” have to recuse himself from decisions on certain files due to this very issue after being grilled by reporters earlier this month.
During a press conference on increasing defence spending in Iqaluit, Nun., Carney acknowledged that there would in fact be decision-making conversations that touched on areas in which he was conflicted.
“Yes. We are having discussions, and a trust has been created. And along with the Ethics Commissioner, probably some screens will be put in place,” said Carney.
CPC Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman responded to Carney’s admission by saying that he must “fully disclose his financial interests and all conflicts.”
“Nothing less. Canadians deserve to know before they cast a ballot,” she said.
Conservative MP Micheal Barrett has also been calling for Carney to stop getting “defensive” and “angry” with reporters and simply disclose his assets “if he’s got nothing to hide.”
“Canadians should be able to very simply look up what his disclosure is, but he’s waiting until after there’s an election,” said Barrett in a video posted to X.
“If he’s got nothing to hide, he could come clean today and tell Canadians what he’s putting into his blind trust, what these conflicts of interests are, but it seems like Mark Carney doesn’t think that you need to know.”