Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday morning rebuked Prime Minister Mark Carney for misleading Canadians about his vast financial holdings.Carney has submitted to ethics screening over at least 80 conflicts of interest from his more than 600 investments. More than 95% of those holdings are based in the US, and many contradict his green agenda..“We finally got a look at the prime minister's many financial interests, the interests that he kept carefully hidden throughout the election,” said Poilievre at a press conference in Ottawa. “He must have known what was in the blind trust, because he was the one to report those holdings. So he knew exactly what was in his portfolio, and he just did not want Canadians to know before they went to the polls.”“Finally, he said, and I quote, ‘I do not have a connection with Brookfield Asset Management.’ Well, it turns out that he has continuing stock options and deferred share units in Brookfield Asset Management.”“And these options cannot be sold, or at least not easily, and we have no reason to believe they have been.”“So when he said that he had no connection to Brookfield, he was stating a patent falsehood.”“Mr. Carney has shown in the past his willingness to use his political connections in order to profit himself.”.Carney’s portfolio exposes record-breaking 80+ conflicts of interest.Poilievre listed a number of examples Carney has publicly endorsed or announced his government will invest in, including Westinghouse (a nuclear energy company in which Brookfield is invested) modular homes, heat pump subsidies and jet fuel — all of which Brookfield has interest.“How can you possibly be involved in developing a budget when all the tax policies could impact your investments? Directly address things like winter heating, companies like IT services — the digital services tax is paid by some of the companies that he has invested in, and therefore he has a potential or perceived conflict of interest in that as well," said Poilievre..Poilievre said the official opposition is calling on Carney for two things: to come before Canadians and “explain the contradiction,” and to sell his holdings.“How is it that he was telling Canadians that he only had real estate and cash, when he knowingly had stocks, stock options, and other deferred benefits? How is it that he claimed he didn't know what was in his blind trust, when we now learn that he knew exactly what was in that trust? And how is it that he said that he had no financial interest in Brookfield when he knew full well that he had stock options and deferred share units?” said Poilievre.“We want him to explain why he told Canadians the opposite of the truth during the election campaign.".“Second, we are propelling the Prime Minister to sell his investments, turn them into cash, and hand them to a trustee who can invest them in a way that is completely blind to him — so that he does not have any knowledge of what is in the blind trust.”“A blind trust is meant to be something that the owner does not know anything about. That's what it means to be blind to the assets. But right now, Mr. Carney is clearly not blind to what he holds, because even we know what he holds — thanks to his disclosure. And this will put him in an impossible position where he will be conflicted at every turn.”.Carney’s portfolio undercuts his own 'green' agenda, raises serious conflict questions
