Michael Barrett has argued that the Liberals crafted Mark Carney's appointment in such a way that would "shield" him from potential conflicts of interest.In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Conservative member of parliament and Official Opposition shadow minister for ethics and accountable government called for Carney's position to be formally moved within the government to ensure he must abide by the ethics laws outsiders are not bound by."I am deeply concerned that his appointment as an advisor to you as Liberal Leader, rather than as an advisor to you as the Prime Minister, is a deceitful attempt to shield Mr. Carney, your new de facto Finance Minister, from any public disclosure of which multinational corporations are paying him, and what conflicts of interest might exist between his private financial interests and the advice he is giving you," Barrett wrote.He pointed out that because Carney's official position was advisor to the Liberal Party and not the government, the former Bank of Canada governor "gets to unduly influence economic policy of the sitting Government of Canada, without the transparency and accountability required of a Reporting Public Office Holder.""We merely request that you move Mr. Carney’s role within the Government, as opposed to the Liberal Party, so that he will have to publicly disclose all of his financial interests, and abide by all ethics and conflict of interest laws, as he clearly is someone who has been given a role commensurate with that of a Reporting Public Office Holder," Barrett continued. "It is of course quite possible that Mr. Carney’s current extensive corporate interests would disallow him from taking on a Government role without first resigning positions and/or divesting assets. And if that is the case, it is clear that Mark 'Carbon Tax' Carney should not be in the role of advising a sitting government and Prime Minister in the first place."Carney is currently chair of Brookfield Asset Management and "directly invests in energy assets in Canada and around the world," which Barrett argued should be cause for concern because there could be "direct personal financial benefit if the federal government were to adopt specific policies."He also sits on the board of Stripe, PIMCO, and Bloomberg, and holds various roles as advisor to other companies.Barrett noted that this was not the first time Trudeau had appointed an advisor with potential conflicts of interest, citing the example of McKinsey's Dominic Barton. During his time advising the government, McKinsey was awarded over $100 million in contracts.
