Carney to recuse himself from dealings with over 100 companies in sprawling government conflict screen
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In a disclosure posted Friday afternoon on the Ethics Commissioner's website, Carney said he had agreed with the watchdog's office to set up a conflict-of-interest screen between himself and Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation, Stripe Inc. and any of 100 other companies owned or controlled by them at the time he set up a blind trust to oversee his assets.
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Before jumping into politics, Carney was chairman of Brookfield Asset Management, which has US$1 trillion in assets under management, and also helped lead efforts to raise capital for two major Brookfield clean energy funds. He was also on Stripe's board of directors.
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'This screen will prevent me from giving preferential treatment to any of the Companies while I exercise my official powers, duties, and functions as a reporting public office holder,' reads Carney's declaration.
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The screen means that Carney cannot be involved in 'any official matters or decision-making processes' that would further either his or the interests of the 103 companies, many of which operate in the renewable energy and real estate sectors.
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'That's the largest scope I've ever heard of,' commented Ian Stedman, a government ethics specialist who previously worked for Ontario's Integrity Commissioner.
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'I think that they're going to have to get creative to make administration of this screen efficient,' added Stedman, now an associate professor at York University.
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The screen will be administered by Carney's chief of staff, Marc-André Blanchard, and clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Sabia, respectively.
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If he is made aware that a matter being discussed with him involves his ethics screen, he must remove himself from the room and make a public declaration of recusal.
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But the prime minister isn't barred from all discussions that may impact those companies. Carney's screen contains a caveat where he can participate in discussions or decisions on matters that broadly affect any of the 103 companies if they are part of a larger group, 'unless those interests are disproportionate to the other members of the class.'
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It was not immediately clear what represents a 'disproportionate' interest. Stedman said that will be a key question for both administrators of Carney's screen.
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