It’s an election centred on U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats, Canada’s sovereignty and the cost of living.
From the start, however, Liberal Leader Mark Carney’s past work in the private sector and the rules that govern the assets of political leaders have also been in the spotlight.
Carney has said he put all of his publicly traded assets into a blind trust, and he’ll have no control over what happens to those assets while they’re in there. He’s also said there will be a conflict of interest screen to prevent him from taking part in any discussions or decisions that involve Brookfield Asset Management or Stripe, since he sat on the board of directors for both companies.
The ethics commissioner’s office has yet to post Carney’s financial disclosure, and Carney has been tight-lipped on what exactly he put into the blind trust.
According to Brookfield Asset Management’s 10-K report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Carney had $6.8 million US worth of unexercised stock options as of Dec. 31.
However, shares of Brookfield have dropped since then — from $54.21 US to $49.43 US — meaning those stock options, if they’re still unexercised, would now be worth around $4.8 million US.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) won’t say whether Carney exercised those stock options before he put his assets in the blind trust, whether he sold shares or whether the trust is now holding the stock options, which don’t expire until 2033 and 2034.
Nor has Carney revealed what other assets he may have placed in the blind trust.
Asked about his assets, Carney has repeatedly said they all went into the blind trust with the exception of cash, a cottage and their family home.
Carney and his wife purchased their home in Ottawa’s upscale Rockcliffe Park neighbourhood for $1.3 million in August 2003, the same year he became deputy governor of the Bank of Canada. A land registry search shows the $600,000 mortgage they took out with the Royal Bank of Canada at the time is still registered, although it’s not known how much of the mortgage may have been been paid off over the years.
The PMO refuses to say where Carney’s cottage is located.
Carney isn’t the first prime minister whose publicly traded assets have been shielded from view.
When former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau entered politics, he declared his company JPJT Canada and an interest in a numbered company that owned a property. But his publicly traded assets were held within a separate numbered company, and later within a blind trust.
The ethics rules that govern Canada’s federal politicians vary considerably, depending on their job.
Under the Conflict of Interest Act, the prime minister, cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries are not allowed to own “controlled assets,” said Melanie Rushworth, director of communications for the ethics commissioner’s office.
“These are assets whose value could be directly or indirectly affected by government decisions or policy,” she said. “Examples include stocks, bonds and closed-end mutual funds, among others.”
People in those jobs have a choice: sell the publicly traded assets in an arm’s-length transaction or put them in a blind trust, she said.
However, leaders of opposition parties don’t have to follow the same rules.
If they’re elected as MPs, they’re subject to a different set of guidelines: the Conflict of Interest Code. While they must recuse themselves from debates and votes on questions where they have a private interest, they can continue to directly own stocks, bonds and other controlled assets.
“MPs must, however, publicly declare their ownership of these assets in the public registry,” said Rushworth. “A summary of their personal and financial information is published at the end of their initial compliance process.”
Party leaders who aren’t members of Parliament, like Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault or People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier, don’t have to file personal financial disclosure reports with the ethics commissioner’s office.
While Carney’s assets have been in the spotlight, there has been less focus on the assets of other party leaders.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s most recent financial disclosure to the ethics commissioner showed investments in six exchange-traded funds: iShares MSCI Singapore, iShares MSCI Switzerland, Vanguard GL VAL FACTR, MSCI World Index, Purpose Bitcoin and Amer Cent Avanti Intl L/C.
However, when U.S. President Donald Trump began threatening Canada, Poilievre sold his international funds and bought Canadian ones, said Conservative Party spokesperson Sam Lilly.
Poilievre now invests in (VCE) Vanguard FTSE CDA IDX ETF, BTCC — Purpose Bitcoin ETF and VNRDF Vanguard FTSE CDA IDX ETF.
While Poilievre has repeatedly criticized Carney’s involvement in Brookfield, one of the top assets in the (VCE) Vanguard FTSE Canada Index ETF is Brookfield Corporation.
Poilievre’s disclosure also lists real estate rental income and a mortgage with Scotiabank.
A land registry search shows Poilievre bought a house in Greely, a suburban community in Ottawa’s rural south, in July 2015 for $550,000 with a mortgage of $440,000 from Scotiabank. The mortgage is still registered on the property, but it’s not known how much of the mortgage has been paid off.
Poilievre and his family currently live at Stornoway, the Rockcliffe Park residence of the Official Opposition leader — a three-minute drive from Carney’s home.
New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh’s financial disclosure doesn’t show any publicly traded assets.
Singh owns a home in Brampton, Ont., while his wife owns a home in Burnaby, B.C, which is partly rented. Both homes have mortgages with RBC.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet’s financial disclosure doesn’t list any publicly traded assets either. He owns a company, Diffusion YFB, which is listed as inactive but which filed an annual report with the Quebec government on March 21 — the first time in more than four years.
His disclosure also lists a debt to Revenu Québec. While his office did not disclose the nature of the debt, it said it conforms with the ethics commissioner’s rules.
Green Party Co-leader Elizabeth May rents her home, but her financial disclosure shows that she is also a guarantor for the mortgage on one of her husband’s properties. May said transparency is important.
“Obviously as MPs we must be fully transparent about investments, especially where our decisions could benefit us personally,” she said.
