Will Brookfield benefit if Mark Carney is elected?

This article is part of the Reality Check series by Canada's National Observer. Have a question for us? Reach out at [email protected].

Claim: There are several, so let’s tackle the most visible ones.

• Brookfield will benefit from a Liberal Party net-zero agenda.
• Mark Carney helped Brookfield avoid billions in taxes by using tax havens.
• The Liberals pledge to build modular homes in Canada because Brookfield acquires a modular building company and infrastructure. 

There are a lot of claims surrounding Liberal leader Mark Carney and his connections to Brookfield Asset Management, a global investment firm where he served as vice chair from 2020 until January of this year, when he announced his run for the party leadership. 

In a statement from January, Brookfield board chair Bruce Flatt called Carney a “tremendous partner” to the firm, and that Carney helped “establish Brookfield as the leading private capital investor in the energy transition.”

But since that time, various claims have been made about Carney’s alleged ties to Brookfield, and what that could mean for Canada’s finances. 

Let’s get into it. 

Brookfield will benefit from a Liberal net-zero agenda. 

Verdict: Misleading

This claim has been making the rounds on X and other social media platforms, after this video from Northern Perspective was posted on YouTube. The video is of an apparent investment banker and “whistle blower” who tells viewers that a “net-zero agenda” will financially benefit Brookfield. 

It’s partly true. Brookfield Asset Management would benefit financially from movement toward Canada’s net-zero target – but that’s because it invested in climate-friendly technologies. Last year, the asset manager raised $10 billion for its Brookfield Global Transition Fund (which, at the time, was co-managed by Carney). The fund focused on investments that supported a global transition to net-zero emissions. 

That’s not to say that Brookfield is solely interested in climate-friendly investments. It has not excluded high-emitters from potential future acquisitions, and it has a nearly 50 per cent stake in an Australian coal terminal, for example. 

But yes, if Canada moves closer to its net-zero target, Brookfield, like other asset management companies, would likely see its investments increase in value. 

Where this gets interesting is how this claim began to spread across social media. Climate Action Against Disinformation, a global coalition, found that the spread of this particular claim came from bot accounts on platforms like X, formally known as Twitter, and other users also noticed suspicious activity.

Several of the bot accounts appeared to have been created between October and November of 2024, just as the US presidential election was wrapping up. 

Mark Carney helped Brookfield avoid billions in taxes by using tax havens.

Verdict: Misleading

There are layers to this one. Reporting by several media outlets, including Radio Canada and CTV, have revealed that the funds Carney managed during his time in Brookfield are registered in Bermuda. 

Brookfield is certainly not alone in using tax havens such as Bermuda. Many companies register their funds there because the country has historically not imposed taxes on capital gains or business profits. 

The NDP and the Conservatives accused Carney of helping Brookfield skirt its tax obligations in Canada and withholding money that would help Canadians. 

The NDP say the move helped Brookfield avoid paying $5.3 billion in taxes, while the Conservatives called Carney’s move a “tax dodge.” (However, the Investigative Journalism Foundation found several Conservative MPs, including its deputy leader, also invest in Brookfield).

Carney has defended the move, saying that registering the funds in Bermuda helps avoid paying taxes multiple times. By parking the funds in Bermuda, they avoid paying taxes until the funds are withdrawn, which would happen in Canada. “It doesn’t avoid tax … The taxes are paid in Canada," Carney told media in March.

Earlier this month, when asked by a CTV reporter about whether he would condemn the use of tax havens, Carney replied “what’s important is that we have an effective tax system and that companies — every company — follow the rules … to not just the letter, but the spirit of those regulations.”

Ultimately, Carney did use tax shelters in Bermuda when managing Brookfield funds, but that doesn’t mean he did anything illegal. It’s all within the bounds of corporate investing. Whether you think those corporate investment rules (or loopholes, depending on your view) should be changed is another matter. For what it’s worth, in 2022, Canadians For Tax Fairness named Brookfield Asset Management the corporation that avoided the most tax, from 2017 to 2021. 

The Liberals pledged to build modular homes in Canada because Brookfield acquired a modular building company and infrastructure. 

Verdict: Misleading

This one comes to us from reader Ruth, though it’s been floating around platforms like Facebook for a few months. 

This claim is mostly true, but needs some context. 

In March, Carney unveiled his plan to create a crown corporation, Build Canada Homes, which would aim to double the number of homes built annually, to 500,000. They would do this, in part, by purchasing pre-fabricated and modular homes and giving favourable financing to modular home builders. 

It’s also true that in 2021, Brookfield acquired the Modulaire Group. Modulaire owns a fleet of modular buildings, which it leases to customers across 25 countries. 

What’s not clear is if Modulaire — and by extension, Brookfield — will be part of the Liberal plan to purchase modular homes. That’s a question the Conservatives have raised.

Lastly, what’s just untrue from our Facebook meme above is that this deal would bring money to Carney’s “pocket.” That assumes two things: that Modulaire will be a beneficiary of the Liberal’s plan and that Carney still has personal investments in Brookfield. 

In March, Carney put his assets (minus “personal real estate”) into a blind trust. Before he did that, he held nearly $7 million worth of Brookfield stock options. But the crucial thing about the blind trust is that Carney doesn’t know what’s currently in there. He can only tell us what he handed over to the independent team. They could have sold all of his Brookfield shares the next day. They could have doubled up and bought more. They could have invested everything in moon rocks and cotton candy — that’s the point of the blind trust.