Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his government would amend the Conflict of Interest Act so elected officials have to disclose financial assets before holding office.
His comments come as the Tories turn up the heat on Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney, a former central banker who has held a number of executive positions in the private sector.
Poilievre said at a March press conference that the former Bank of Canada governor could win the Liberal leadership race and become prime minister without revealing his foreign holdings, saying the act has a “loophole.” The act currently states he is not required to reveal his holdings to the ethics commissioner until 60 days after taking office, and is not required to reveal them to the public until 120 days after taking office.
Additionally, Poilievre said Carney could put his existing holdings in a blind trust, allowing his trustee to continue investing in “all the same things.”
“He could go on and govern for years, quietly and subtly, knowing what investments he has and making decisions that profit himself at the expense of the Canadian people,” Poilievre said.
“He could affect vital regulatory decisions, national security, international trade, all to his own benefit, all against the benefit of the Canadian people.”
In a statement to The Epoch Times, Carney’s campaign said he would “surpass” all applicable ethics rules if he becomes prime minister.
“The office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has already been contacted ahead of time to help ensure all appropriate steps can be initiated right away, and assets would be immediately placed in a blind trust,” a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that Carney has also been proactive in obtaining his security clearance prior to the end of the leadership race, which is set to wrap up on March 9.
While Carney’s campaign criticized Poilievre for not taking the “basic steps” to obtaining a security clearance, Poilievre has said he will not get the clearance because he would
be prevented from openly using the information to criticize the government on security matters.
The issue was first raised in
June 2024 around a National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians report that said some lawmakers were “semi-witting or witting participants” in efforts by other countries to interfere in Canadian politics. To gain access to the unredacted version, the government said leaders needed to obtain a top-level security clearance.
Proposal
Poilievre said if his party forms government, he will modify the Conflict of Interest Act so that leadership candidates for federal parties must disclose their holdings to the ethics commissioner within 30 days, and release them to the public within 60 days.Prime ministers and ministers would also be required through the act to sell off all holdings putting them within a potential conflict of interest within 30 days of taking power.
“It will prevent our leaders from selling out our people for personal profit. And it will stop corrupt, immoral, elitist, and globalist forces from pulling the strings of the people in charge,” Poilievre said.
The Tory leader said this change to the Conflict of Interest Act is necessary because a prime minister could potentially work against Canadians’ interests by profiting off insider financial knowledge. Poilievre also said U.S. President Donald Trump could potentially use Carney’s millions of dollars of holdings in the United States as “leverage” against Canada.
Poilievre on Trump
During the press conference, Poilievre also reacted to the United States announcing a one-month tariff pause on all Canadian and Mexican products compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).Poilievre said his message to Trump on tariffs was to “knock it off” and “stop the chaos.”
“You are hurting your workers, your consumers, and most immediately destroying trillions of dollars of wealth on your own stock market,” he said. “You’re attacking a cherished friend of the United States, and you’re strengthening America’s enemies.”
The Conservative leader also criticized the Liberal government for not repealing the Impact Assessment Act, which “effectively forces us to sell all our energy to the Americans,” and for keeping Parliament prorogued until March 24.
Trump signed two executive orders on March 6 that suspended 25 percent tariffs on USMCA-compliant exports from Canada and Mexico for a month. Around 50 percent of American imports from Mexico are covered by the trade agreement, while 38 percent of Canadian goods are covered, according to the White House.
Following the announcement, Ottawa paused an additional $125 billion of tariffs on U.S. products, which was set to kick in on March 25. Ottawa’s initial 25 percent tariffs on $30 billion of U.S. goods are still in effect. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc
said Canada will continue working toward “the removal of all tariffs.”
In the Oval Office on March 7,
Trump accused Canada of “ripping us off” for years on lumber and dairy products. Trump has vowed to impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that tariff the United States, and said he would do so “as early as today” or next week.
