'What is a conflict of interest, anyway?' The imagined thoughts of Mark Carney's ethics disclosures

National Post

5 days ago

The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has released the full details of Mark Carney's asset disclosures, and they reveal a prime minister who appears to be more constrained by conflicts of interest than any other.
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Carney's years of helping to oversee the trillion-dollar portfolio of Brookfield Asset Management gave him an equity stake over dozens of companies whose fortunes are likely to be directly impacted by the policies of his government.
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And so, the Ethics Commissioner has accepted a complex arrangement wherein any time one of 103 Carney-linked companies comes up in cabinet discussions, he's supposed to leave the room while declaring that he's doing so.
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But no, it turns out that all these assets were seen as a liability. A bad thing. The commissioner was prejudicially assuming that just because Mr. Carney happened to own substantial shares of a few dozen companies, this was itself evidence that he would use his public influence for personal gain. For shame, I say. Look within your heart, Canada. An intelligent, beautiful man volunteers to be your prime minister and your first impulse is to assume that he must only be doing it for selfish reasons?
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What is a conflict of interest, anyway? Mr. Carney is a bipedal mammal who requires oxygen for cellular respiration. Does that put him at a 'conflict of interest' if he takes pro-oxygen positions in public life?
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I have known Mr. Carney to ride inside automobiles manufactured by Mercedes, Lexus and, if he's slumming it, Volkswagen. Does that put him at a 'conflict of interest' when it comes to foreign relations with the respective governments of Germany and Japan?
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By your logic, surely his appreciation of the elegant and responsive interior of the 2025 E-class would instantly transform him into a Manchurian candidate loyal only to the whims of Mercedes-Benz AG and the Chancellor of Germany, in that order.
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Perhaps your next ethical disclosure should uncompromisingly litigate everything that has ever given Mr. Carney joy or satisfaction of any kind. Did he once enjoy a matinee screening of Ladri di biciclette? Watch out; because that surely means he'll sell us out to Italy at the first opportunity.