QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Appointment of Financial Adviser
September 17, 2024
Senator Gold, your leader-in-waiting, Mark Carney, has just signed on as Justin Trudeau’s financial adviser, but he isn’t a member of cabinet or even a Privy Council appointment. He has been hired by the Liberal Party of Canada. This is extremely troublesome because it means he’s not subject to the Conflict of Interest Act. It is not that Justin Trudeau believes he’s subject to it either, but it raises the question as to Mr. Carney’s loyalties. Are those loyalties to Canadians or to the Liberal Party, or are they to the boards on which he sits, whose best interests he has a fiduciary obligation to put first?
Which is it, Senator Gold: the Liberal Party of Canada, the financial firm PIMCO, the online payment firm Stripe, the investment firm Brookfield Asset Management or maybe the World Economic Forum, on whose board he has been serving since 2010? Which one, Senator Gold?
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your question, senator. Mr. Carney has had an exemplary career serving Canadians and, indeed, serving others, with his extraordinary blend of economic competence and commitment to combat the existential crisis of climate change. Canadians are well served by Mr. Carney being willing to provide advice to this government as it charts a measure forward.
I encourage all, especially those who see themselves as the government-in-waiting, to learn a little more economics from someone so well placed to advise us.
Senator Gold, what we learned is that last year “Carbon Tax Carney” made close to US$1 million in deferred shares from Brookfield — one of the biggest investors in the People’s Republic of China, which is one of the world’s worst polluters and human rights violators. Yet Mr. Carney supports the carbon tax on hard-working Canadians.
Tell me, Senator Gold: How can that be seen as anything other than putting one’s fortunes ahead of Canadians? Justin Trudeau and “Carbon Tax Carney” are really two sides of the same coin, aren’t they?
No, they are not. I gather that the summer break did not calm your tendency to use any efforts to smear an important Canadian who has offered to make a contribution to this country. I think it’s regrettable that we start this session with that same tone.
