Is new PM's honeymoon already over?
Carney could conceal conflict of interest beyond election. Plus, a closer look at the latest "Sneaky" Conservative ad.
On the first Monday on the job for Canada’s 24th Prime Minister, Mark Carney took questions from reporters in London.
The former central banker wasn’t ready for the Globe and Mail’s Stephanie Levitz, the no-nonsense reporter who was Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics beat reporter for the Canadian Press.
Levitz grilled Carney about the mystery surrounding the former chair of trillion-dollar Brookfield Asset Management’s holdings. Carney’s camp said his financial assets are in a blind trust since his March 9 Liberal leadership landslide.
Said Levitz: “The rules say that those assets should be publicly disclosed within 120 days, which means you'll campaign in a coming federal election, most likely within the next 120 days, and are serving as Prime Minister now, with Canadians not being aware of what potential conflicts of interest you sought to avoid.”
Coincidentally, St. Patrick’s Day was also when real estate, energy, infrastructure and finance giant Brookfield issued its annual Form 10-K report. It showed that Carney held US$6.8 million worth of unrestricted stock options as of Dec. 31, 2024. The 409,300 options expire in 2033 and 2034. Two weeks later, he joined the race to replace Justin Trudeau.
theBreaker.news reported exclusively that Carney advised the B.C. NDP cabinet during John Horgan’s premiership.
Sneaky, sneaky
The soft launch of Carney’s campaign on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Jan. 13 provided the Conservatives with their main attack ad fodder.
The latest adaptation is in the style of the ‘60s Batman TV series. He is not “Carbon Tax” Carney. Instead, he is just “Sneaky”Mark Carney.
In doing so, the Conservatives took some liberties.
Stewart actually blurted “sneaky” at Carney several minutes before Carney flashed the devilish grin at the end of the segment. But the Conservatives married them together, as if they were simultaneous. Sneaky, indeed.
That ad may not have a long shelf life. New, unsolicited material landed in the Conservative war room’s lap on March 18.
In an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump endorsed Carney.
This is going to be a wild election. Whenever it is officially called.