How Much Power Will ‘Conflicted Carney’ Amass Without Canadians Having A Say?

By Spencer Fernando, Exclusive to the National Citizens Coalition

Power exercised behind the scenes can often be as consequential as power exercised out in the open.

And it can be far less accountable.

A prime minister or finance minister can be directly questioned in the House of Commons, and the public expects those in official positions to explain themselves.

But what happens if a country ends up with a de facto finance minister who is accountable to nobody and can’t be questioned by the public?

And what happens when that ‘de facto finance minister’ appears to have some significant potential conflicts of interest?

Well, we’re about to find out.

Justin Trudeau’s appointment of Mark Carney as the chair of the prime minister’s task force on economic growth has taken a turn to the absurd in recent days, with the National Post reporting that Carney’s task force only has one member – Mark Carney:

“Weeks after Mark Carney’s appointment as chair of the prime minister’s special new task force on economic growth, his outfit appears to have no firm deadline for its findings, no scheduled events and no other members except Carney.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the former governor of Canada’s and England’s central banks and a rumoured Liberal leadership contender would be chair of the new “Leader’s Task Force on Economic Growth,” at the Liberal caucus retreat in early September. Carney’s role means he will be working for the Liberal party and not the government.

The Liberal news release announcing Carney’s task force said he would be meeting with groups across the country before submitting a final report. So far, no such events have been scheduled.”

Carney has since sent out a fundraising email blast on behalf of the Liberal Party.

This comes at the same time as an interesting potential conflict has popped up.

Here’s what Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner had to say about it:

“The Logic just reported that the multinational, mega-investment company that Mr. Carney chairs, Brookfield, had recently started talks with the federal government and Canadian pension funds to back a new multi-billion dollar fund that the company is raising. Worse, the report stated that Brookfield was seeking $10 billion tax dollars from the Liberal government for said fund.”

As Rempel Garner notes, this should not be happening:

“There should be no way in hell that Mr. Carney—who, as Chair of Brookfield, would have a direct personal interest in a new Brookfield-run multi-billion dollar fund—should be acting as the Prime Minister's key economic adviser while his company is reportedly trying to get its grubby hands on the pension savings of Canadian families and seniors or $10 billion out of their wallets.”

Canadians looking at this whole situation could be forgiven for thinking Justin Trudeau has now found a way to make lobbying even less transparent than ever before.

For those who have been wondering how Mark Carney benefits from all of this – given that he is tying his heretofore bland and uncontroversial image to Justin Trudeau’s horrendously unpopular brand – we may now have the answer.

Unfortunately, that may be the only answer we get.

By appointing Carney to a position within the Liberal Party that is both potentially extremely influential and also insulated from the accountability that would come with being a government appointee, Justin Trudeau is depriving Canadians of the chance to scrutinize those who exercise power over us.

How much more power will Carney be allowed to amass without Canadians having a say?

On the one hand, this can be seen as an act of desperation by a prime minister looking for any way to ingratiate himself with power and claw back a few points in the polls. But it may also be the move of a jilted narcissist who – having been rejected by the Canadian people in poll after poll and by-election after by-election – is now content to open the treasury up for his cronies.

Whatever the case may be, it is clear that more and more political pressure must be brought to bear here. While Mark Carney may be insulated from direct accountability, governments can still be pressured by public opinion, and many of those associated with Carney were likely not anticipating a political firestorm.

Most importantly, we must help our fellow Canadians see how this makes Justin Trudeau even more unfit for office. At a time when so many Canadians are struggling, Justin Trudeau is trying to sidestep the accountability of the democratic process and further his own narrow interests at our expense.

Spencer Fernando is one of the most popular and prolific political voices in Canada. He is a writer and campaign fellow for the National Citizens Coalition. Join the mailing list to receive his exclusive weekly columns in your inbox.

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