Conservatives say Carney is lying about his role moving investment firm’s office to U.S.

Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney helped steer two G7 economies through turbulent times and his track record as a central banker earned him praise and offers to serve on the board of directors of some prominent businesses, non-profits and philanthropic organizations, including one of Canada’s largest publicly traded companies, Brookfield Asset Management (BAM).

Now, the Liberal leadership front-runner is facing scrutiny for some of the decisions taken by BAM during his time as board chairman — including one to move the company’s head office from Toronto to the U.S.

Carney downplayed his role in that decision at a news conference on Tuesday night after the Liberal leadership debate, saying it was a decision formally made by the board after he left the company in January.

But company documents show the board approved the move in October 2024, and the decision was affirmed by shareholders at a meeting late last month.

The wording of the investor relations document announcing the office move makes it clear the company wasn’t waiting for shareholder approval.

“BAM has now changed its head office to New York,” the document reads.

The Conservatives said Wednesday that Carney “lied” in describing his role, blasting him for helping move a division of a Canadian company south of the border to “Donald Trump’s hometown.”

“We know that we can’t trust what Mark Carney says and we now know that he will put profits for himself and well-connected insiders on Bay Street and Wall Street ahead of Canadians,” said Conservative MP Michael Barrett, the party’s ethics critic.

A spokesperson for Carney told CBC News that Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is “desperate to misrepresent Mark’s serious experience in business because he has no economic experience whatsoever.”

“Brookfield Asset Management remains one of the largest investors in Canada. It continues to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its parent company, Brookfield Corp., continues to be headquartered in Toronto. The changes reported are technical in nature, and with respect to jobs, Brookfield has clearly stated that Canadian operations were not impacted,” the spokesperson said.

BAM is a large investment firm that owns assets including infrastructure, renewable power projects and real estate in 30 countries on five continents, according to company documents.

Carney, who also served as the company’s “head of transition investing,” a climate-focused role, was not paid in cash to serve as chairman but he was well compensated by the firm in other ways.

According to company records, as of April 2024, Carney held some 41,000 deferred share units (DSUs), which can be cashed in for BAM common stock at a later date. The stock currently trades at roughly $82 a share, which means, on paper, those DSUs could be worth more than $3 million.

Carney also held 303,049 stock options as of last year, which can in turn be liquidated sometime next decade.

The company valued those options at $1.7 million US as of last April, but they could be worth much more than that later on.

Under Canadian election and parliamentary rules, Carney does not have to disclose his financial holdings until after he’s elected to Parliament.

Carney said he will comply with the House of Commons ethics requirements, if he’s elected.

“I will be subject to all of the conflict-of-interest rules and ethics rules,” Carney told reporters. “I will happily comply with them, that’s a straightforward process.”

Barrett said Wednesday that the Conservatives want those disclosures made immediately.

Move announced in October

While Carney was chair, the board unanimously agreed last year to move the company’s head office from Toronto to New York as part of a bid to convince more Americans to invest in the company and try to gain what BAM called “broader equity index inclusion.” The decision was announced on Oct. 30.

The company was essentially making a play to be listed as an S&P 500 company, which would be something of a golden ticket because index funds that track some of the 500 largest American companies would have to buy BAM’s stock, potentially pushing up its price to the benefit of shareholders.

The company said transferring its head office was a paper move — and not done for any operational reasons.

“The arrangement will not result in any changes to the operations or strategic plans,” the company said in an investor relations document announcing the move. “And will have no effect on the tax treatment of their respective dividends.”

The board then gave the company’s shareholders a chance to affirm its decision, scheduling a vote for late December 2024.

The decision was ultimately punted to Jan. 27 because the Canada Post strike stopped some shareholders from getting their proxy vote paperwork by mail.

Carney said Tuesday that the “formal decision” was made after he left BAM.

“I ceased to be chair on the 15th, I think, of January, when I announced for leadership,” Carney said, after correcting a reporter who initially called him the “vice-chairman” of BAM.

“I was chair,” he said.

“The formal decision of the board happened after I ceased to be on the board. I do not have a connection with Brookfield Asset Management and no longer have a role obviously as I resigned in the middle of January,” he said.

“I’m all in for Canada, all in for this leadership, all in during this time of crisis to build our great country.”

The Conservatives pounced on that answer, saying Carney misled Canadians.

Indeed, BAM told investors at the end of October the board “unanimously determined that the arrangement is in the best interests of BAM.”

Again in December, the company told shareholders the board “unanimously recommends that shareholders vote FOR” the head office move and other corporate restructuring changes at the January vote.

The changes were formally endorsed at the Jan. 27 virtual shareholders meeting.