The polls, fundraising hauls and endorsements aren't the only things suggesting former central bank governor Mark Carney is on track to win the Liberal leadership — Conservatives seem convinced as well.
Carney has become the primary target of Conservative attacks in recent weeks and the party is telling its supporters through fundraising emails that the race is a "sham" and just a "coronation."
On Wednesday, the party accused Carney of lying to the media after Tuesday's Liberal leadership debate and of indirectly helping U.S. President Donald Trump in his quest to get firms to relocate to the U.S.
When Carney was asked Tuesday whether he approved Brookfield Asset Management's decision to move its headquarters from Toronto to New York when he was the company's chair, Carney told reporters he had "ceased to be chair" in mid-January, when he entered the leadership race.
"The formal decision of the board happened after I ceased to be on the board," he said Tuesday night.
But on Wednesday, the Conservatives circulated a Dec. 1 letter signed by Carney as board chair that says the board had approved the move and urges shareholders to vote for it in a Jan. 27 meeting.
"This letter says that the decision by the board, of which Mark Carney at that time was chair, was unanimous to move the headquarters and Canadian jobs to Donald Trump's hometown of New York City," said Conservative ethics critic Michael Barrett.
"This is just days after Donald Trump had threatened Canada for the first time with unjustified tariffs."
Liam Roche from Carney's campaign team replied in an email that the attack shows Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is "scared of running against Mark Carney, and he’s desperate to misrepresent Mark’s serious experience in business because he has no economic experience whatsoever."
"The changes reported are technical in nature, and with respect to jobs, Brookfield has clearly stated that Canadian operations were not impacted," Roche added.
The Dec. 1 letter says the move was intended to position Brookfield Asset Management for inclusion in U.S. stock exchanges. The company is 73 per cent owned by Brookfield Corporation, which is based in Canada.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson also rushed to Carney’s defense today but did not comment on the specifics of the controversy.
“Anyone who knows anything about business knows that boards actually have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders,” he said. “At the end of the day, his job as a chairman of a board is to act in the best interest of shareholders.”
Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, former government House leader Karina Gould, Montreal businessman Frank Baylis and Carney all made their closing pitches to Liberal voters in the only two debates of the race on Monday and Tuesday.
Gould invited her rivals into her future cabinet at a news conference just outside of the Parliament buildings on Wednesday. She said she would put Carney in an economics role, have Freeland deal with foreign affairs and task Baylis with health care.
Baylis, a Montreal businessman, owned a medical devices company which he sold for $1.75 billion.
Advance voting in the race began on Wednesday, allowing party members to cast ballots online ahead of the March 9 vote to select a successor for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025.
— With files from Catherine Morrison in Ottawa.
Comments
More straw grasping by the conservatives given Pierre now feels threatened by a potential leader who has real world experience unlike Pierre the career politician with zero real world experience in business. Pierre who tried to rig elections. The choice is easy...
After reading this article and the official reaction to the Conservative's missive, it's obvious Poilievre is shooting in the dark while wearing Raybans.
Is there something wrong with a Canadian company establishing a small branch in the US? For gawd's sake, it's usually the other way around. Just look at the ownership of the Alberta oil industry, and the Conservative's absolutist defense of it no matter how terrible the future economic fundamentals and environmental impacts are.
Desperation by the Conservatives, seeking to paint Carney as unpatriotic. They claim he moved jobs to the U.S , which is totally untrue. No jobs were lost in Canada, Several new jobs were created in N.Y.C. This office was established to gain access to the NY stock exchange, plain & simple. When Carney said he was not involved in the final move, that’s technically true. He did however, advise the board to vote for this move in late 2024. I think Mark should clarify these facts with the public, it’s only to his benefit to do so.